


Coming Together

by Angelwithwingsoffire



Series: Breakaway [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Magic!Stiles, Multi, Sequel, recovering stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:06:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 66,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1900041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelwithwingsoffire/pseuds/Angelwithwingsoffire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of their fight with Eli and Stiles’s decision to once again give the pack a chance, something is coming for them. And it is not coming quietly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. School Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Nice to see you all again! Here we go the sequel to [Breakaway](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1318681) if you haven't read that you should read it first because otherwise this will make no sense. Enjoy!

“Hey.” Stiles heard, feeling a slap on his back. “Hey.”

Stiles groaned, not wanting to leave the lovely land of dreamy sleep he was in.

“Wake up.” He heard.

Now he recognized the voice. It was Sam. He just groaned again.

“Stiles wake up you lazy bum.”

“Nooooooooo.” Stiles moaned.

“If you don’t get up right now I will make it impossible for you to get an erection for a month.”

Stiles pulled his face out of his pillow and looked at her, standing next to his bed, dressed for the day. “You wouldn’t.”

She grinned. “You know I would.”

“Fuck you.” Stiles said, rolling over to look at her.

“No that’s Derek’s job.” Sam said smirking and then ducking as Stiles threw a shoe at her. “Hurry up!” She sang as she left the room, leaving Stiles to get dressed. After winter break where he never got out of bed before noon he was not prepared to be awake this early. But he can’t be late or Sam and his dad will kill him. And Sam was definitely not above following through on her threats. So with great reluctance but excellent self-preservation skills, Stiles got out of bed and got ready for the first day of his last semester of high school.

By the time he got downstairs the rest of the coven was already gathered in the kitchen, dressed and ready, eating breakfast.

Stiles yawned and accepted the plate Sam held out to him before plopping down into his spot at the table and staring across at the two empty seats. He sighed.

“When do Allison and Seth get back?”

“Next month.” Joe answered, munching on a piece of bacon. “Allison has a lot of family she needs to reteach about what they can and cannot kill.”

“At least they were here for Christmas.” Chandra sighed. Zach rubbed her shoulder. She was missing them a lot.

“They’ll be home soon darling.” Sam called from the stove as she cleared the pots and pans she’d used for breakfast off to the sink. “But in the meantime we all have school to get to so finish up.”

“I just started!” Stiles exclaimed.

“You also just got up so that’s your fault.” Sam said, grinning as she left the room.

Stiles made to whine but Joe cuffed his head. “Grab something to go.”

Stiles stuck his tongue out at Joe and the wolf just rolled his eyes.

“Everyone to the car!” Sam shouted from the front door.

Chandra and Zach got to their feet, grabbing their plates from the table and their bags from the floor, swinging them onto their shoulders. They dropped them in the sink on the way out the door, taking their coats from Sam where she stood at the front door. She kissed them each on the cheek as they headed out and got in the pickup truck sitting in the driveway. Joe was right behind them, stopping for a kiss and his coat before running out to get in the truck. And then Stiles came out of the kitchen, carrying a paper plate piled with eggs and pancakes and a plastic fork with his backpack slung over his shoulder. Sam laughed.

“Seriously?”

“I’m hungry!”

Sam rolled her eyes and waved him out of the house. “You spill in my truck and I will remove your balls.”

Stiles grinned and kissed her cheek. “You love me and you know it.”

Sam sighed as she followed him out of the house, shutting the door behind her. “Heavens know I’m crazy for it.”

Stiles laughed as he climbed into the truck.

Sam rolled her eyes and got in the driver’s seat, starting the car and pulling out of the driveway.

“Oh and if any of you start a fight this semester I am _not_ bailing you out.”

“That was one time!” Zach protested from the back. “He took my books!”

“And you made him shit his pants.” Sam said calmly looking at Zach in the rear-view mirror. “He won’t bother you again.”

Zach pouted a bit and Chandra comforted him quietly.

“Think it’ll be a quiet semester?” Joe asked, looking at Sam.

She looked at him with a look that said she was wondering if he was crazy. “Joe I love ya to death but you must be crazy to think any of us will ever have a quiet semester.”

~~

When the coven pulled up at the school they piled out of the truck in the same manner they piled out of the jeep on the first day of the school year, laughing and pushing each other while mocking the singing skills of each other. But this time, instead of ignoring the pack as they walked by, they gave smiles and waves. It was slow going, regaining trust and love, but it was on its way. They were healing.

“Stiles you are such an idiot.” Chandra was saying as they passed by.

“I am not!” Stiles protested.

“Yes you are.” Joe said, rolling his eyes, forever the mature one in the group.

“You are.” Zach agreed.

“All of you be quiet.” Sam said, with easy fondness as they entered the school. “We’re all idiots and for some reason we love each other so shut it.”

“We’re not that bad.” Stiles said, pouting a bit.

Sam rolled her eyes as they reached their lockers, grouped together by some careful hacking at the start of the school year, and started grabbing their things for their first classes of the day.

They all noticed when Sam froze. The only time she freezes like that is when she needs to sneeze or when there’s danger and that wasn’t her ‘about to sneeze’ face.

“What’s wrong?” Joe asked quietly.

Sam looked at him. “Sniff.” She whispered.

Joe immediately and trustingly took a deep, long breath in through his nose and his eyes went wide.

Sam nodded. “I don’t know that scent.”

“Neither do I.” Joe whispered.

“What?” Stiles asked, getting worried.

“There’s something here.” Sam told him. “In the school. I can feel them.”

“I can smell them.” Joe whispered.

“What do they smell like?” Chandra asked.

“Flowers.” Joe said as if the word were some weird thing he’d never heard of before. “And like, goodness.”

“And that’s bad?” Zach asked.

“No one smells like that.” Sam answered. “Unless they’ve got something unhuman about them.”

“Great.” Stiles said. “More fucking monsters.”

“They might be peaceful.” Chandra sighed.

They all looked at her.

“Chandra,” Stiles said. “This is Beacon Hills. Nothing is peaceful here. Everything wants us dead. Including, on occasion, each other. So no, they are almost definitely not peaceful.”

“We need to find who it is.” Joe said.

Sam nodded. “Spread the word to the other group.” She ordered. “Don’t make it obvious we’re on okay terms with them and for god’s sake do not get noticed by whoever these people are. Okay?”

They all nodded.

“Good. Now no one be late for class.” With that last order Sam shut her locker, turned, and walked away.

“She’s terrifying sometimes.” Joe said.

“And you love her for it.” Zach said smirking.

Joe grinned. “Hell yea I do.”

~~

At lunch the coven all sat down at their normal table, laughing and trying to steal from each other’s trays. None of them mentioned the strange smell of the morning or the pack sitting directly down the rows of tables from them.

“I hate calculus.” Stiles declared.

“Everyone does.” Zach said, looking confused. “Why do you feel the need to share about a hatred everyone has?”

Stiles stuck his tongue at Zach. “Because I can.”

Zach stuck his tongue out back at Stiles. Sam snapped her hands out and grabbed both their tongues.

“Tongues are for speaking and pleasuring your partner in bed.” She said, looking between them. “If you wish to keep doing those things, keep them in your mouth.”

Both boys nodded and she let go, picking up her napkin to wipe their spit from her fingers.

“Now that we’ve settled that, does anyone have anything to report?” Sam asked, looking at them.

“They all know.” Chandra said. “But none of them have any clue. They noticed it to.”

Sam nodded. “Good.”

“None of us can track it.” Joe told her. “With everyone else we can follow their scent to them but it’s like the scent is clinging to everyone in the school. Everyone smells like it at this point. Even us.”

 Sam looked at Stiles. “You’re studying up tonight. We need to find out what this is. I’ll see about Lydia and Danny joining you. If they do you will go to the Hale house after dinner and Derek can watch you. I need to call May and ask her about this as well as some other things. Joe I need you to see if you can find out where they’re staying. Do your best to track it. Chandra you need to strengthen the wards on the house. Zach I want you going with Chandra in a shift. I don’t know what they mean to do but I don’t want her doing those wards alone that’ll leave her very vulnerable to any attack. And all of us need to do homework. So no sex tonight.” Here she looked pointedly at Stiles, who looked offended.

“Why you lookin’ at me?” He asked. “I’ve had just as much sex as Chandra and Zach!”

“We’ve had none cause I took on the oaths of a Druid.” Chandra reminded him. “You and Derek are not held back by those rules. And if you ain’t fucking you’re talking all night.”

“I like his voice.” Stiles said, shrugging and blushing a bit.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Just get your job done Stiles. If they mean to hurt us we need to know and we need to know soon.”

Stiles nodded. “Got it.”

“Everyone else good on their jobs?”

They all nodded, looking serious.

“Delightful. Now eat up we still have the afternoon in this hellhole to get through.”

~~

When the school day was finally over the coven went tumbling, literally, out the front doors of the school. Stiles tripped on his own feet and took them all down to the ground, laughing at their friend’s clumsiness while Stiles blushed.

“Never did get the hang of your feet!” Sam said laughing and pushing Stiles.

“Shut up I’m still figuring them out.” Stiles said, pushing Zach’s legs off of him so he could get up. They all disentangled and made it to their feet, still chuckling at Stiles’s clumsiness when the boy bolted away from them. At first they got worried but when they saw what he was bolting towards they all just rolled their eyes. Derek was here to pick his pack members up and Stiles hadn’t seen him since the night before.

“You know that’s a bad idea.” Sam said in a normal tone, picking up Joe’s bag and handing it to him.

Joe cocked his head, listening, and then smiled. “Derek says he’s just happy Stiles is happy to see him. He can’t get enough.”

Sam rolled her eyes but there was a fond look in her eyes as she looked across the parking lot to the street where Derek and Stiles were kissing. “Send him back Derek.” She said. “Take your pack home and then come to our place. I need you for training tonight.”

Sam could see Derek and Stiles pull apart and Derek’s lips move but she couldn’t hear the words he was saying.

“He says he doesn’t want to give him back.” Joe told her, throwing an arm around Sam’s shoulders.

“Well you have to Derek.” Sam said, not looking over to her two coven members as they walked up to her truck but she still pulled out her keys and unlocked it so they could get inside. “I need him back. He’s yours all this weekend.”

There was a moment before Joe laughed and started leading Sam towards the truck. “Stiles says it sounds like you two are divorced parents and he’s the lovable kid stuck in the middle. With mommy during the week and daddy on the weekends.”

“Well I didn’t need to know that about their sex lives but all the power to them.”

Joe laughed loudly, throwing his head back in happiness. “Stiles is embarrassed, Derek is annoyed, and I’m very grossed out.”

“Yea Sam did you have to say that?” Zach asked as they reached the truck and parted ways to go to their doors.

Sam just grinned at them. “Now Derek.” She said as if scolding a child.

“He’s on his way.” Joe said, smiling.

Sam nodded and watched Stiles as he walked across the parking lot towards them.

“There was a time he’d never do that.” Chandra whispered. “Not alone anyways.”

Sam nodded, smiling. “He’s come a long way with trusting them again.”

“Not as far as they’d like.” Zach said, popping his head into the front of the cab and nodding out the front window towards the pack standing on the sidewalk.

The others all turned to look at them and they could all read the carefully hidden hurt on their faces. They’d been listening to the coven and the wolves were whispering what had been said to those without supernatural hearing. They were having the most trouble with the new status between the coven and the pack and Stiles and the pack. Derek and Peter were still the only pack members allowed at the coven house without an invitation but the others were invited over usually once a week for training. A few weeks their have even been two training sessions together but it all depends on what Stiles says and what Sam and Derek think would be best. Sometimes Stiles still tries to pull the wool over their eyes and say he’s okay when he’s really not. But they’re getting better and making him say what he really feels and the pack has to deal with the consequences. A couple weeks they haven’t been able to train together even once because Stiles had nightmares and didn’t feel comfortable being around them. But they’ve been making progress. It’s slow going but they all understand now that that’s just how it has to be.

“They don’t have to like it.” Sam said quietly before brightening as Stiles climbed in the back by Zach and Chandra. “Bout time you get in lovebird.” She teased.

Stiles stuck his tongue out at her. “Shut up and drive woman. I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.” Chandra teased him, poking his stomach.

He flinched away from the ticklish spot she’d poked and glared at her, trying to emulate his boyfriend. But Stiles didn’t much experience and just started laughing a moment later.

“So no ideas on the weird smell?” He asked, looking up at Sam as they pulled out of the school parking lot.

Sam shook her head. “I’m hoping to talk to Derek about it tonight. See if he has any ideas. Is he staying for dinner?”

“Always does.” Zach muttered not-so-quietly.

“Oh shut up.” Stiles told him, smiling. “We’re better than you and Chan were.”

“That has nothing to do with this.” Zach said, keeping his haughty composure for a moment longer before laughing with Stiles.

“You two were awful.” Joe drawled. “Fucking every hour of the day for _months_.”

Sam and Stiles laughed at them but the two of them just shrugged, grinning wide.

“What can I say?” Chandra said grinning. “I just have that effect on him.”

Now all five of them were laughing and it made Stiles grin even wider when he realized that these people are never going to leave him. He’s never going to be shunned or insulted. Well he probably will but they’ll always bring him back in with cuddles and cookies and in that moment he was as happy as a clam. Because he had a coven now. And they weren’t going anywhere.


	2. Spaghetti

“HIT THE DECK!” Sam screamed loudly as a pan came rocketing through the house and out onto the lawn, nearly taking Derek’s head off in the process as the wolf was coming inside.

“What the hell?!” Derek shouted as he went inside.

“Sorry!” Chandra exclaimed, coming running out of the kitchen with tomato sauce smeared up both her arms and she even had some on her forehead. “It got away from me!” She yelled over her shoulder as she ran past Derek and out of the house to try and catch the escaping frying pan.

“What was that?” Derek asked, trying to remain calm as he walked into the kitchen. Only to find Stiles and Sam red-faced and laughing.

“She tried to use magic like I do and bring the pan to her.” Sam explained through her tears of laughter. “It got a bit of hand though.”

“A bit?” Stiles shrieked. “She’s chasing a pan around!”

“As long as it doesn’t hit the boys when they come back we’ll be fine.” Sam said, calmed down now while Stiles was still laughing. “The magic will wear off soon enough.” She looked at Derek, who was sitting down at the island. “Make yourself useful and cut up the broccoli. Don’t make the pieces too small. Stiles stop laughing and start replacing the sauce that flew out with that pan.”

Derek nodded, pulling the cutting board, knife, and onions towards him. He’s gotten used to being ordered around in the kitchen. It’s the one place besides a life or death situation that he’ll listen to Sam without asking. She managed to break him of complaining about kitchen work within a week of this habit of him being at their house every other night for dinner during the week. She’d made it impossible for him to be within three feet of Stiles and they’d both begged and pleaded before she removed the barrier. Derek doesn’t piss Sam off anymore. He does what she tells him to do in the kitchen.

“So you have no idea what the thing at school was?” Stiles asked as he stole the broccoli Derek had finished cutting and threw them into the pan on the stove.

Derek shook his head. “I went in with the pack after you guys were gone to get a sniff myself but I couldn’t place it.”

“It seemed familiar though?” Sam said, pulling a pan of garlic bread out of the oven and sticking another tray in.

“Yea really familiar.” Derek said. “I’ve definitely smelled it before.”

“And that’s bad, right?” Stiles asked.

“Very.” Sam and Derek said together.

Stiles sighed. “There goes my fun.”

“Did you talk to Danny and Lydia?” Sam asked Derek, ignoring Stiles’s pouting.

“They’ll be there when we go over.” Derek told her.

Sam smiled. “Thank you. I’d watch them myself but-”

“I understand.” Derek said, cutting her off with a smile. “We all have jobs to do.”

“Thank you.” Sam said sincerely before looking up. Derek looked up as well, smiling.

“That’s really annoying.” Stiles declared.

The other two just laughed.

“The boys are back.” Derek told Stiles.

“Wash up and set the table!” Sam ordered, only a little louder than she would be to talk to Derek or Stiles as she knew the boys coming in the back door would hear her, even if she couldn’t hear them.

Soon enough Stiles heard them as the two boys pushed and shoved each other, laughing as they walked to the bathroom and washed up before coming in for dishes.

“Hey babe.” Joe said, kissing Sam on the cheek as he went to get plates. “How much longer?”

“Depends on how long it takes your ass to set the table.” Sam said, smiling sweetly at him as she pulled the second tray of garlic bread from the oven and turned it off.

Joe smiled back and he and Zach hurried to set the table. While they were doing that Stiles drained the noodles, mixed them with the sauce, and managed not to scorch the broccoli that had been steaming as well.

“Good job.” Sam said, kissing Stiles cheek as she passed him with a big basket of garlic bread.

Stiles grinned and looked at Derek. “See? I can cook.”

Derek snorted. “When she tells you what to do.”

Stiles looked offended and Sam, Joe, and Zach were laughing at him.

“He’s right and you know it.” Sam said, taking the pot of spaghetti from Stiles and taking it over to the table. “Both of you wash up and Stiles bring the broccoli over.”

The two of them did as they were told and joined the other three at the table.

“Where’s Chan?” Zach asked.

“Chasing a frying pan.” Sam told him. “She should be back soon.”

Zach looked confused for a moment and then just shrugged and started grabbing food.

“Did you find anything in the forest?” Sam asked, looking at Joe.

He shook his head. “The scent wasn’t anywhere we went. I’m going to start at the school after dinner to try and track them. They don’t seem like forest creatures though.”

Sam groaned. “I hope we get something tonight. I have a bad feeling about this whole thing.”

The heard the backdoor bang open and in came Chandra, now covered in mud and dirt and a grumpy look on her face.

“I couldn’t catch it.” She said, pouting a bit.

“Wash up and come eat before the boys eat it all.” Sam told her, smiling sympathetically. “We’ll go out and look for later. It can’t have gone far.”

Chandra nodded and went over to sink to start scrubbing the dirt off her arms and face. “Why’d it do that?” She asked, still a bit upset.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sam told her with a smile on her face. “The first time I tried moving something in the kitchen the stove ended up at the gate of the Ranch. May told me I just got too excited about trying it that my magic burst out excited as well. We had to get a new stove.”

“I remember that.” Joe said. “May and Boris found it hilarious.”

“It was.” Sam agreed. “Mildly dangerous. But hilarious.”

Chandra was smiling as she dried her arms and face off, feeling better knowing her teacher did something even worse than she did the first time she used magic to move something in the kitchen. “Why was it the stove?” She asked, sitting down and kissing Zach before filling her own plate with food.

“I was trying to open the door on the front to put cookies in.” Sam explained. “Those cookies never did get baked.” She said as an afterthought.

Everybody chuckled and they dug into their food, conversation coming to a halt as they were all but inhaling the food. And then they all stopped as they heard a howl echo around them.

“Isaac.” Derek whispered, worry filling his voice, before dropping his silverware, standing up so fast he knocked his chair away, and sprinting out of the room.

“Let’s go.” Sam said, dropping hers and standing. “Zach carry Chan and Joe get Stiles. Chan, Stiles, prepare for battle.” She ordered before running from the room, the other four right behind her. She burst out the back door, threw herself over the railing without any hesitation in her steps, shifted into a wolf, and started running for the forest.

The other four burst out behind her, nearly breaking the door off its hinges. Zach scooped Chandra up and with practiced ease she slipped onto his back and held on tight as Zach ran after Sam. Joe sped up and ran one step in front of Stiles, allowing Stiles to jump forward and slam into Joe’s back. Joe caught him with barely a stumble and raced after his pack mates. Both of the mages’ eyes were already glowing bright as they gathered their magic. Normally they’d be able to run with the wolves, using magic to propel them faster than a human can run (a trick Sam had finally gotten around to teaching them) but in times like this, they need to concentrate on gathering their magic so the wolves easily carry them.

They raced through the forest, following Derek, until the finally reached a clearing and as they arrived they all just stopped dead. Zach and Joe dropped their riders and the coven stood there, looking.

“What did you do?” Sam whispered, looking at Isaac.

“I didn’t do it!” Isaac exclaimed. “I found him like this!”

“Call your dad Stiles.” Derek said softly. “He’d going to have to see this.”

“They did it, didn’t they?” Zach asked, looking at Sam.

She nodded. “I believe so. It would make sense.”

“He was a sophomore.” Chandra said softly. “Moved here in November. I helped him find his science class. His name was Darrien.”

Zach nodded, pulling Chandra closer to him. “I remember him too. He was nice.”

“We have to find them.” Joe said. “Before they do this again.”

Everyone fell silent, staring at the body that lay on the forest floor in front of him. His clothes lay in tatters around him and he looked as though all his muscle and flesh and been pulled out of him. The skin was intact but it was just hanging off his bones. His eyes were still there though and they were staring up at the canopy of trees above them, dead looking but still holding a look of fear. He died afraid. And painfully.


	3. Body

By the time Stiles had hung up with his dad the rest of the pack had arrived, summoned by Isaac’s call. They showed up shifted but when they saw the coven and the body they dropped it. Scott immediately went to Isaac’s side and started checking him over for injuries.

“I’m fine.” Isaac assured him quietly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Don’t scare me like that.” Scott told him, pulling Isaac down to press their foreheads together. “I was terrified you were in trouble.”

“I’m sorry.” Isaac said, holding Scott close. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What happened to him?” Erica asked, staring at the body in horror.

“We don’t know.” Stiles told her. “We are pretty certain it’s the people that were at school today.”

“Is he okay?” Boyd asked, staring at Joe.

Joseph was on the ground at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree, with a face as pale as paper. Sam was kneeling in front of him, whispering to him in another language and trying to calm him down.

“No.” Zach said. “But Sam has him. He’ll be okay. He just isn’t right now.”

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked, looking a little worried.

“Doesn’t matter.” Chandra said. “Right now all of you need to leave.”

“Why?” Erica demanded. “Our packmate was the one who found this guy.”

“On their land.” Derek reminded them.

“I just followed the smell!” Isaac protested.

“We don’t care you were here.” Stiles told him. “But the whole town knows that our group doesn’t get along with yours. So because Joe can’t leave and looks like a wreck, he found the body. He freaked out and called Sam because she was the first person he thought of. The rest of us came with her because we were worried. You all need to leave. Now.”

“He’s right.” Derek said, putting an arm around Stiles. “Go home. We’ll be there soon enough. We need to figure out what the next move is.”

“Get them out of here!” Sam suddenly demanded, glaring over at them. She looked pissed. “Their smell’s upsetting him even more!”

“Go.” Derek said. “Before she kills you. Because she will if that’s what it takes to help him and you all know it. Go!”

The pack hesitated for another moment before all turning and heading back into the forest.

“They’re gone baby.” Sam whispered in the new silence. “It’s okay Jo-Jo. It’s okay we’re all here. We’re all safe.” Joseph fell against her and she quickly moved so he was in her lap and she could hug him tightly. His eyes were wide open but they were glassy, like he wasn’t seeing what was in front of him but something else entirely.

“What’s happening?” Stiles whispered looking at them with fear in his eyes.

“We’ve seen this before.” Sam admitted quietly. “He’s remembering it all.”

“Will he be okay?” Derek asked.

“Yea. Like Zach said. He’s not okay right now. But he will be.”

“I’ll talk for you.” Chandra said, her and Zach coming closer to allow Joe to catch their scent better.

“Thank you.” Sam said. “I can’t leave him like this.”

“Do you need anything?” Zach asked.

Sam shook her head. “Just don’t let them come near us. I don’t know how he’ll react to people he isn’t familiar with being around when he’s like this.”

“What about me?” Derek asked. “I’m not part of your coven and he seems fine with me.”

“You’re Stiles’s Center.” Sam reminded him, smiling, as if he’d ever forget. “You’re as good as pack to his instincts. You’re safe. Your pack are allowed near for a time because they’re yours. Strangers on the other hand…well he’s not going to like them. But I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“They’re coming.” Derek said quietly.

Instantly Chandra and Zach pulled back, closer to Joe and Sam, hiding them, protecting them. Stiles did the same and Derek followed, standing slightly in front of Stiles as well.

Cops came crashing out of the trees, guns drawn but not up, merely out in a cautionary measure. At the front was the Sheriff and he relaxed slightly when he saw that they were all okay but stayed stern as he looked at the body.

“Stand down.” He said. “Whoever was here is long gone by now.”

The other half a dozen cops holstered their guns and got to work around, more people coming from the trees to do pointless investigating stuff while the Sheriff walked over to them.

“What happened?” He asked Stiles before spotting Joe. His eyes went wide. “Is he alright?”

“He’s fine.” Sam said quickly. “Just a little shocked at finding a body. It’s not every day he does that.”

John nodded, understanding the need to keep pretenses up around the other officers. “How’d he find it?”

“He goes for runs out here every day.” Chandra told him. “He came across this today and sort of freaked out. He called Sam because he was freaking out and we all came out here with her.”

“Get him home.” John ordered. “An officer will be by later to get statements from all of you but right now I think he needs to get somewhere he can calm down a bit.”

“Thank you.” Sam said, sincerity in her voice.

John nodded, smiling. “Get out of here. All of you.”

“Thanks dad.” Stiles said, hugging his dad quickly as Sam and Chandra tried helping Joe back to his feet. His legs wouldn’t hold him though. They were like cooked noodles.

“Derek.” Sam whispered, looking at him. “Can you carry him? He can’t walk.”

Derek nodded and stepped over, carefully picking Joe up.

Joe whined immediately when he lost contact with Sam and she had to hold his hand tightly before he’d stop.

“We’ll have to walk this way.” Derek said.

Sam nodded. “Is it okay?”

“He’s not too heavy.” Derek said smiling.

“Be careful.” Chandra said. “You don’t want to scare him. He might freak out worse.”

Derek nodded decisively and they turned their back on the creepy, dried up body and went back into the forest.

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it?” Zach asked Chandra as they followed the others.

“Probably.” Chandra said before smiling brightly. “But we’ll enjoy every minute of it!”

Zach laughed, throwing his left arm around her shoulders. “Yes I suppose we will. Because god forbid we do something sane.”

“If we were sane we wouldn’t have stayed in the town where the biggest beacon since the one in Jamestown is planted.” Chandra said smiling as she reached up to tug on Zach’s fingers. She already had her right arm around his waist. “We’re completely insane.”

Zach smiled at her all lovey and adorable. “And we love every single minute of it.”

Chandra grinned back at Zach, her eyes and face just as full of stupid love as his were. “Completely insane.” She repeated with a grin. “And completely in love with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear from you guys about what you think!!


	4. The Past is Back

“Sam?” Stiles whispered over to her, cutting through all the conversations and words being exchanged all around the room. They were all sitting in the living room of the coven’s house, paired up around the room. Stiles and Derek were on one couch next to each other, Chandra and Zach were on the third cushion with Chandra in Zach’s lap to fit next to their packmates, Lydia and Jackson were in an armchair together, Scott and Isaac sat by the legs of their packmates with Scott sitting between Isaac’s legs and leaning against the taller boy’s chest, Erica and Boyd were on the other side of Jackson’s legs curled up together, Danny was in another armchair by himself with his laptop in his lap, and Sam and Joseph were curled up on the loveseat together with Joe’s head in Sam’s lap. Joe still hasn’t recovered from whatever it was that shut him down so well.

“Yes Stiles?” Sam answered, looking at him.

“You said you and Joe had seen a body like that before.”

She nodded. “We have.”

“When? And where?”

“It was years ago. Back after I ran away from Eli. Joe and I had nowhere to go, no idea what we were doing, and no training to fall back on. We were thirteen. We didn’t know what to do. We found a little town called Harmony in Indiana and we stopped there for a while, thinking it was safe. Thinking maybe we could call that town our new home. The people there were very nice. They helped us. And then those things came.” Sam’s eyes went a bit glassy and reflected into the future the fear she had in the past. “They killed the pastor in town. Left his body in the square for all of us to see. There was a word carved into his chest. Just two letters. ‘Go.’ No one knew what it was. No one had any idea. His entire body had been sucked dry of muscle, flesh, blood, water, anything. He was skin and bones. And those eyes, they looked like were just staring straight through you. Like they saw everything inside you and knew everything about you.”

“How’d you know it was the pastor if he was just skin and bones?” Lydia asked.

“He had a necklace his sister had given him not long before she died of cancer.” Sam explained. “He always wore it. It was custom made. A little cross with her name and his name carved on the back. And the body had it on. And even then, none of us listened to the warning. No one left town. We were all convinced by the Sheriff in town that it was just the kids from the next town over, making a scene. He said the pastor probably wasn’t dead just out in the woods somewhere, lost. Said the body was probably some corpse they dug up in a cemetery somewhere. Nothing to worry about. And we all listened. I wish we hadn’t.”

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“They came in the dark of the new moon. Joe and I were sleeping in a barn on the outskirts of town and the screams woke us up. We went outside and we couldn’t see anything. Joe shifted and looked with his werewolf eyes and whatever he saw that night has haunted him ever since. He won’t tell me. He just smiles slightly and says it’s better if I don’t know. Because if I did, I’d be haunted to.”

“How’d you get away?” Lydia asked.

“I don’t know.” Sam said, shaking her head a little. Joe just dropped his shift like something had burned him and he said ‘Run. Just run.’ And we did.” She stopped to take a deep breath and compose herself as the tears had started welling up a bit too high, threatening to spill down her cheeks. “We found the Ranch a month later and we found a home but that night’s haunted both of us for a long time.”

“Is that going to happen here?” Stiles demanded. “Are we in danger?”

“I don’t know.” Sam said. “When Joe comes back, he might be able to give us something more to have but I don’t know anything. Nothing but that where those things are, people die.”

“We have to stop them.” Erica declared. “We can’t just let them kill people.”

“We don’t know anything about them.” Jackson said. “We have no idea what these things are. Let alone how to kill them.”

“Joe can help.” Chandra said. “What he saw. It could help.”

“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to talk about it.” Sam said quietly, looking down at Joe. She played with his hair gently as she spoke. “He saw that body tonight and he shut down. I haven’t seen this since we found the Ranch. Since we found safety. If he can’t talk about it, I can’t make him.” She looked up at them all. “I can’t do that to him.”

“None of us would make you.” Stiles said in a tone that said that was final. “But if he can, it would help.”

Sam nodded. “We just have to wait. He’ll come back soon enough.”

“Is that why we’re here?” Scott asked. “Instead of at the pack house where we usually meet? He’s more comfortable here.”

Sam nodded. “Surrounded by safety will help him. I’m just hoping it doesn’t too long.”

“Wait you said you didn’t know this smell.” Chandra said. “This morning at school you said you didn’t know it.”

“We didn’t.” Sam told her. “They smell like flowers here. But at Harmony, it was spices. Like cinnamon and things like that. Nice smelling things. Strong scents. We didn’t know it was them because they smell different.”

“So maybe it’s not the same thing.” Isaac suggested hopefully. “Maybe we’re okay.”

“We’re not.” Boyd said, speaking for the first time. “Scents change. Ours have multiple times since we were first bitten. We need to treat them like they’re deadly.”

The others all nodded in agreement.

“We need to be careful.” Derek said. “All of us. And right now we need to also protect Joe until he’s better.”

“Those deputies that were here didn’t look like they even cared that he can’t talk right now.” Zach said, annoyed.

“Yea I’ll be telling my dad about that.” Stiles said. “Deputies should be able to respect someone when they’re traumatized by what they’ve seen.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sam said. “They got what we needed them to get. That’s what matters.”

“What about Derek?” Stiles asked.

“What about me?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles confused.

“You said you knew that smell.” Stiles reminded him. “The one at school, the one in the forest. You recognized it. You said you’ve definitely smelt it before.”

“I have.” Derek agreed. “But I don’t know where.”

“But that means these things have hunted before.” Lydia said. “If you can remember where you’ve smelt it before Derek we could check for killings there too. Maybe there’s a pattern.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Sam agreed. She looked at Derek. “Think you can remember?”

Derek shook his head. “I’ve been trying but it just won’t come back.”

“So what do we do now?” Isaac asked. “We have nothing.”

“You guys go home.” Sam answered. “Everyone does homework. And then we all go to bed. And tomorrow morning we will all get up and go to school like the normal people all of us have to pretend to be. We have to make sure those things at school don’t know it was us.”

“She’s right.” Derek said. “We should all get some sleep. I don’t want to be getting any more calls about you guys sleeping in class.”

Erica, Boyd, Jackson, and Isaac all ducked their heads, blushing a bit. Derek was the acting guardian for all of them as Jackson’s family is still in London, Isaac’s parents are dead, and Erica and Boyd’s parents just gave Derek custody of their kids when they asked them to. It made it a lot easier for him to take care of them. They occasionally felt hurt about their parents just dropping them like that but the pack easily filled that hole and gave them family.

“That was one time.” Erica pouted.

“One time a week for two months.” Derek corrected. “If you guys keep doing that I’ll lose custody. You all know that. Do you want to go back to your parents?”

All four of them shook their heads. Before Derek had officially adopted him Isaac had lived in a foster home for a week and he never wanted to do that again. The noise was hell on a werewolf’s ears. And Jackson never wanted to go back to his parents in London. He didn’t want to lose the pack.

“Then you all need to be responsible.” Derek said. His tone wasn’t angry or disappointed, just gentle and calm. He’s gotten a lot better at being an Alpha since this whole pack mess started.

“We all need to be responsible.” Sam said. “We need to make sure those things don’t suspect anything. We need to stay safe. Or they’ll come for us next.”

Joe whimpered in her lap and she automatically turned all her attention back to him, running his fingers through his hair and speaking gently in the same language she’d spoken in the forest.

“What is that language?” Jackson asked.

“It’s Polish.” Stiles told him. “We all speak it. She’s just telling him he’s safe and that everything’s okay.”

“Why Polish?” Danny asked.

“Because Sam spoke it growing up.” Zach explained. “She taught us because we wanted a language we could speak in and no one else would know what we’re saying. They never said how Joe knows it. He either knew it growing up or she taught him at the Ranch before we got there. As long as I’ve known them they’ve whispered to each other in that language. It means something to them. It’ll anchor him down here with all of us better than English could.”

“We should go.” Lydia said softly. “He’ll calm down better if it’s just his family around.”

“Thank you.” Sam said softly, looking up at her with a small smile.

Lydia nodded and slipped off Jackson’s lap, ready to go. “Let’s go guys. Give Joseph what he needs to get better. And I know some of you still have some homework to finish.”

“Hey Sam?” Chandra asked, sounding a little timid.

“Yea?” Sam said, looking at her student.

“What happened to the town? Where you saw them?” Chandra’s voice wavered as she asked the question, as if she knew she wouldn’t like the answer.

“It’s gone.” Sam told her. “Joe and I went back just a few months before you came to us at the Ranch. It’s gone. All the buildings are ruins now. Burnt out husks. And in the town square, where the pastor’s body had been found, two words are scorched into the ground. ‘Stay Away.’ No one will live in Harmony, Indiana ever again.”

The room was silent as everybody took them in.

Then Lydia clapped her hands together with a loud snap, making most of them jump, and smiled brightly. “Well that’s about enough scaring for one night. I think it’s time we all went home and did homework.”

“Thank you Lydia.” Derek said, smiling at the girl.

She smiled back at him. “I’ll make sure they get it done.”

“You always do.” Derek said. “And I don’t want to know how.”

Lydia laughed. “Oh don’t worry I don’t hurt them. Just threaten them with pain.”

“Because that’s so much better.” Isaac muttered as he got up, not looking at the redhead.

“What was that Isaac?” Lydia asked in a fakely sweet voice.

“Nothing!” He said quickly running out of the room with Scott.

The others left behind all chuckled.

“Keep them in line girls.” Derek said, looking at Lydia and Erica. “I’m going to stay here tonight. See if we can think of anything. You guys do the same, okay?”

“You got it boss.” Erica said, fake saluting.

Derek rolled his eyes while the coven just watched in amusement.

“Get out of here.” He said, jerking his head. “All of you.”

They all smiled and left, each of them either hugging Derek or kissing his cheek on the way out. Lydia and Erica were the only ones who kissed his cheek. The boys knew better and just bro-hugged around Stiles as they left.

“Bye guys.” Stiles said, smiling and waving at them as they all left.

They smiled and waved back, all very happy Stiles was comfortable around them now.

“So what now?” Chandra asked when the pack was gone.

“Finish your homework.” Sam told her. “Derek can help with what he can and I’ll help as well.”

“Don’t you have homework?” Derek asked.

“She finished it already.” Stiles said, play glaring at Sam. “She did it all within the rest hour when we got home before going out to train me and Chan a bit and then start dinner. Cause she’s smart like that.”

Sam grinned back at him. “You’d be done to if you quit daydreaming about Derek’s dick up your ass.”

Stiles blushed bright red while Derek and the others all laughed at him. “You’re an ass.” Stiles told Sam.

“At least I’m an ass who’s done with homework.” Sam teased him.

“Enough children.” Chandra said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s all get to work so we can go to bed at decent times.”

“Decent bedtimes?” Stiles asked. “What is this strange new concept of which you speak?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I have something I want you all to hear about. Some lovely people in this fandom have decided to do a project for Tyler Hoechlin's birthday this September. Go check it out over [here](http://hoechlinbdayproject.tumblr.com/) and donate if you wish.  
> And as always I'd love to hear what you guys thought of the chapter!


	5. What Happened in Harmony

“So is Joe alright?” The question floated through the crowded lunch room to where the coven was sitting where Zach relayed it to Sam.

She nodded. “Yea Lydia. He’s fine. He’s just tired so he’s taking a day.”

“She says she’s happy he’s okay.” Zach relayed to her.

Sam sighed and leaned into Stiles, who was sitting next to her. “I’m worried guys. Last night took a lot out of him. And I’m not sure he’s going to be of any help. He was still pretty shaken up this morning when we left for school.”

“He’ll get better.” Chandra said softly. “I know he will. He’s strong. He’ll pull through.”

“I hope so.” Sam said, tears welling up. “I can’t lose him Chan. I can’t. What happened to James…I-I wouldn’t survive that.”

“James is getting better though.” Stiles reminded her. “Being back at the Ranch with everyone else seems to be helping him. Remember May said so when we Skyped her for Christmas.”

Sam nodded. “But the raw pain of a bond like that breaking. That’s what would kill me. Not the not having him anymore.”

“No one is dying.” Zach said, sounding completely sure of it. “We aren’t going to let each other get killed by these things, okay? We’re a family. Family means none of us are going anywhere any time soon. Got it?”

The others all nodded, smiling at him. Chandra leaned over to kiss his cheek and Sam reached across the table towards him.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

Zach smiled and grabbed her hand tightly. “None of us are going anywhere.” He said again, quietly but with determination.

She nodded. “We can do this.”

“I hope so.” Stiles said, looking at his phone. “Dad just texted. He said the body was completely drained of all muscles, flesh, blood, and water. It was just skin, flesh, and bones. Its organs were shriveled up inside it.”

“It’s them then.” Zach whispered. “For sure.”

“I need to talk to Derek and Joe alone tonight.” Sam said. “The rest of you I want at the Hale house. Zach and Chandra I trust you to keep an eye on Stiles. You have to see if you can figure out what these things are. Pool everything together.”

“We can do it.” Stiles said. “And you three?”

“Derek and I need to talk to Joe. We need to know what he saw that night.”

“I’ll tell Derek to come pick you up after school.” Stiles said. “We can take the truck to their place so we have a ride home. You probably aren’t going to be going anywhere after that conversation.”

Sam smiled at him. “Thank you Stiles.”

He nodded. “Anything for family, right?”

~~

Later that day when school let out the coven stopped on the sidewalks, hugging each other tightly. They don’t like being split up like this with something as dangerous as that thing in town. But they all know this has to happen. Joe’s more likely to talk if it’s just Sam and Derek there. If the others were all there, Joe would try to hide things so he didn’t scare them. So this is for the best.

Sam hugged each of them tightly and then handed the keys to Zach. “Don’t hurt my baby.” She said with a tense smile.

He nodded. “I won’t. I promise. We’ll see you tonight.”

She nodded and watched as the three of them walked away and got into the truck before following the two cars the pack had driven to school out of the parking lot. And then a black Camaro pulled up to the curb beside her.

“They’ll be alright you know.” Derek called through the open window.

“I know.” Sam said, as she strode over and got in the car. “It’s not them I’m worried about.”

“He’s going to be fine.” Derek said gently, reaching over to grab Sam’s hand. He could feel the tension and worry rolling off of her. “He has you. He’ll be okay.”

Sam nodded, still tense. “He hasn’t ever told me what he saw.” Her voice was quiet and if Derek wasn’t a werewolf, he doubted he would’ve even heard it. “There has to be a very good reason why he didn’t want me to know.”

“He didn’t want to worry you.” Derek told her, squeezing her hand to try and anchor her a little. “But now he’ll know that he has to. We need to know what he saw so we can figure out what to do.”

Sam nodded quickly and then looked at Derek, eyes wide with fear and worry. “What if he doesn’t come back one of these times?” Her voice was almost demanding in tone. “What if he falls back into one of those flashbacks and he doesn’t come back to me? I need him Derek. He’s everything.”

“I know.” Derek said gently. “Believe me Sam I know. But he will. Because you anchor  him. You’ll always be able to call him back no matter how deep into memories he sinks. You will always call him back. Because he loves you. Just as much as you love him.”

He felt Sam relax and he saw her breathing even out and heard her heartbeat settle a bit before she nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go. Let’s get this over with.”

Derek nodded and pulled back his hand so he could drive away from the school, heading towards the coven’s house.

By the time they got there Sam was tense again but they kept up the silence from the car as they went inside and Sam went upstairs to wake Joseph up. Derek went into the living room and sat in one of the chairs, waiting in silence as he heard Sam and Joe coming back downstairs.

When they came into the room Derek had to hold back a surprised gasp at the sight of Joe. Now he knew why Joe had stayed home from school. His eyes were bright and awake again, but he was still pale and weak as Sam had to help him walk and sit down on the couch. When they sat it was with Sam against the arm of the couch and Joe curled up against her. Sam even pulled the blanket from on the back of the couch down over them, which one hardly ever does when one is dating a werewolf that runs hotter than normal people do.

“Joe?” Derek spoke softly, so he didn’t scare him.

Joe looked over at him and smiled. “Hi Derek. I’d say it’s nice to see you but I know where this will go so I’d be lying.”

Derek huffed a small laugh. “I’m sorry. But it would help us to know.”

Joe nodded. “I understand. I’ll tell you as much as I can.”

Sam kissed Joe’s head. “Only what you can darling.” She whispered softly. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“I won’t go anywhere.” Joe promised her. “That was more a trip forced by surprise. I can handle this.”

“What did you see?” Derek asked. “That night in Harmony.”

“Hell.” Joe answered. “There’s no other way to describe it. It was hell on earth. Lights were on in some of the houses and they punched them out so they could stay in the darkness. They seemed to like the dark. And there was so many of them. They seemed to multiplying out of everything. It was like they were everywhere.”

“What did they looked babe?” Sam asked gently.

“Human but not human.” Joe said. He bit his lip, thinking about how to say it. “They looked sort of like human foxes. Like how wolves look when we beta shift. They all had long noses and pointed ears and they all had tails.”

“How many tails?” Derek asked, knowing that could be important.

“Depended. Some had one, others had more.”

“What was the most you saw?” Derek asked.

“Eight maybe nine.” Joe said. His eyes were glassing over as he thought back to that night. “But their teeth. That’s what made them awful. They had huge teeth, all sharp. They tore out throats, ripped people apart. I saw two of them with two tails each pick a child up, his name was Benny I helped him build a toy car a few weeks before. They picked him up one of them had his arms and the other had his legs and he was screaming. Everyone was screaming but his screams were louder than them all. He was screaming for his parents, his older brother Ryan, he screamed for anyone who could help him as those things just cackled, enjoying his screams. And then they stared backing away and his screams got louder and he wasn’t screaming for help anymore, he was screaming in pain. They pulled him apart and his screams stopped. They were each holding his limbs and his body was lying there between him gushing blood and his eyes were still open, his mouth open in that last scream. And they just laughed and lapped up some of his blood, smearing it across their faces before they just dropped the pieces of that little boy and ran off to find someone else to kill. His little sister was right there, being held by another one of them. That one had four tails. She saw it all, just like I did. I could hear her screaming for him as another one, this one with only one tail, walk up to her with a grin on its face. That’s when I dropped the shift. I didn’t want to see anything else.” Joe fell silent then, tears running down his cheeks.

Sam could feel tears running down her face and she didn’t say anything, just held even more tightly to Joe, not wanting to let go.

Derek was the one who spoke next, tears welling up in his own eyes as he thought of how much it had to have hurt to see that happen and to know you couldn’t do anything to stop it. “Thank you Joe.” He said softly. “I’m sure that will help us.”

“I hope so.” Joe said softly. “If I have to see that again, I don’t think I would come back.”

“We’ll find them.” Sam told him firmly. “Stiles, Lydia, and Danny will find out how to find them and how to kill them and we will. No one is going to die here. This is a place of hope. Not death. And I won’t let it become that. We can’t let it become that.”


	6. Meeting

Both the pack and the coven made it through the rest of the week without any more bodies being discovered and without sinking into the past again. Friday after school they all gathered in the living room of the pack house, waiting for the Sheriff to come give them what he knows so far about the body Isaac had found earlier that week and then the brains among them were going to tell everyone else what they had so far. In the meantime though the girls were very interested in the ring that had appeared on Chandra’s left hand.

“Are you two getting married then?” Lydia asked.

Chandra laughed, glancing towards the living room where all the guys were holed up while the girls ruled the kitchen. “The full moon after Allison and Seth get back. We finally meet all the requirements to become fully connected mates.”

“And bug the fuck out of all of us with _actual_ fucking now.” Sam muttered. She was in the middle of making what looked like enough sandwiches to feed an army. Although with as many supernatural creatures in the house, they needed plenty of food.

Chandra blushed a little but still smirked at Sam. “Gonna keep you up aaaaaaaall night. We have to pay Stiles back after all.”

Everyone laughed at that and those with supernatural hearing could hear Stiles spluttering in the next room when Derek told him what Chandra had said.

“So what are all the rules?” Erica asked. “What can and can’t you do?”

“And what are you now if not mates?” Lydia asked, curious. “And why don’t Stiles and Derek have to follow them?”

“Sam?” Chandra said with a hopeful voice.

Sam sighed. She was always the one who had to explain the slightly embarrassing rules. “The rules apply only to people who take Druid vows. Stiles didn’t so he can do whatever he wants. The rules are very simple overall. Basically it’s no penetration. Anything else goes.”

“Why?” Lydia asked, wanting to understand this.

“It’s got to do with ancient Druid virtue things. Once a Druid reaches mastery in an element, they take their final vows and are then allowed to take the full mating vows as well. This rule is to prevent Druids in training from getting distracted during training. Once they’re done with it, then they can fully claim their mates. Although many Druids find their mate before completion and must wait. Chandra will be receiving her mastery in fire and will take her full vows. And then the full moon after that they’ll be mated and then they can fuck all they want.”

“What about you and Joe?” Erica asked. “Stiles said you two can’t have sex either but you’re already a master. Of all the elements.”

“Joe and I decided to wait until we completed high school to do the full mating ritual. We could’ve done it two years ago when I mastered, just before I took Chandra on, but we decided not to.” Sam answered, slapping a sandwich together and dropping it onto the pile of other sandwiches. “We did do a binding, when we first claimed each other. We were fourteen and I’d just officially started training, so we couldn’t fully bond. But we did a claiming that made so we were connected, just not as close as a fully mated pair is. Chandra and Zach did the same thing. But it’s not a full mating. We’re still bound by rules on what we can and can’t do. And that’s just because we chose it. So while we fit all the requirements, we aren’t fully mated and Joe takes cold showers.”

“Not as often as I used to!” Joe shouted from the other room, making people in both rooms laugh.

“That’s true.” Sam conceded with a smile. “Not as often as he used to.”

“Why’d you take Druid vows if it comes with all the rules?” Erica asked. “Seems kinda pointless and annoying to me.”

“Perhaps.” Sam said, still smiling. “But after the hell I had as a child, rules that are set in stone and never change like Eli’s did, were welcomed. They gave my life structure. Something to shoot for. And they still do.”

“They do the same for me.” Chandra added. “I like knowing what I can and can’t do. I don’t want too much freedom I’d probably kill a man day one.”

“Long as it ain’t me, I don’t care!” Zach shouted from the other room.

“You be the first one I’m killing!” Chandra shouted back.

“Ain’t nobody killing anyone with the Sheriff in the house!” John announced, coming into the house.

“Hey Sheriff!” Sam called. “Head into the living room we’ll join you in a second! Just finishing the sandwiches!”

“You better have made some lean ones!” Stiles warned.

“I’m not an idiot!” Sam shouted back. She looked at the three trays of sandwiches and then at the other girls. “Some assistance ladies?”

Chandra immediately strode over and grabbed one before sweeping out of the room and Lydia and Erica each grabbed another, leaving Sam to grab two 12 packs of soda and headed into the other room. She dropped the soda on the table by the sandwich trays, grabbed two and a few sandwiches before walking over and plopping herself down on the ground by Joe and handing him a soda and two of the sandwiches she grabbed.

“So what do you know?” Stiles demanded, looking at his dad who was now sitting in one of the armchairs. The rest of the pack and coven were all spread out around the room in their pairs.

“Well you guys were right. The body is Darrien Lafoay, sophomore at Beacon Hills High. He and his parents along with his younger sister Lillian moved here in November. And no one has any clue how his body was stripped of muscles, flesh, and blood without any marking appearing on the skin, which was fully intact except for a scrap on his elbow his little sister said he got when he was playing in the yard with her last Saturday.”

“So we got nothing there then.” Derek said.

“Not necessarily.” Lydia said. “What kind of person was Darrien? Maybe that could tell us if he was targeted or not.”

“Good kid. Mom said he gets good grades, never misses curfew, always lets her know if he’s going out with friends.” John said. “Just an average kid.”

“He probably wasn’t a target.” Stiles said. “Just an opportunity.”

“Do we know anything about what did it?” John asked, looking desperate.

“It’s some sort of fox creature.” Lydia said. “Has at least one tail but up to nine in its shifted form. We don’t know how it looks otherwise.”

“And it seems to like the school although none of the wolves can track it to or from there.” Danny added. “Their scent seems to cling to everything, making it impossible to track.”

“Sorry still a pretty new guy in this world, how does that make it hard?” John asked.

“It’s like sticking a red dot on every person you touch.” Sam spoke up. “And as those people go about their days they stick red dots on everyone they touch. And they do the same. And not just people but objects to. So everyone who touches the bus handle you did gets a red dot as well. Now try and find the source of the red dots. It’s impossible.”

John nodded. “Makes sense. How do we find them then?”

“We don’t.” Stiles said. “We can’t. Not yet at least. We don’t know enough about them to define them so we can’t figure out how to track them or kill them.”

“What else do you need?” Derek asked.

“What they look like in the day would be helpful.” Lydia said. “Plenty of the possibilities can’t become something more human-like. It’d narrow it down if we knew if they can.”

“And why the kill.” Danny added. “Some kill for rituals or fun or food.”

“How can we find that all?” Scott asked. “Like we said we can’t track them.”

“We can when they’re hunting.” Stiles said. “Well, you guys can at least. In all likelihood, what they do to their kills will probably raise a racket. Follow that, find them. Follow them, learn more about them.”

“It’s dangerous though, isn’t it?” Erica said. “Those things drained a boy to skin and bones they could probably do the same to all of us.”

“No one should be alone.” Derek said. “Everyone travelling pairs if not larger groups. And no one in the forest at night unless you tell someone you’re going in and take at least two others with you.”

“What if they come after us? “Jackson asked.

“Run.” Joe said, speaking for the first time. “These things aren’t to fought without a pack. If they find you, run. And pray to the gods that you’re fast enough. They’re predators. They’ll enjoy a good hunt.”

“No one is getting hunted.” Stiles said firmly.

“And if we are?” Isaac asked. “I found that body they could’ve still been there. They could’ve gotten me and no one would’ve been near enough to save me. What happens if they catch us?”

“In all likelihood, you’ll join the ranks of those they’ve killed.” Joe said, looking over at the other wolf with the same dead eyes he’s taken to wearing anytime they talk about the creatures, trying not to fall away again. “I watched them tear people apart for fun. They’re not something that will be beat easily.”

“But we’ll do it.” Derek said. “We’re strong, especially together.”

“We might not be strong enough.” Joe said calmly.

“Would you stop that?!” Jackson exclaimed, looking mad. “We’re trying to figure out how not to die! It’d be helpful if you’d stop pulling us back down!”

“I’m not pulling you down.” Joseph said, looking at the beta wolf and allowing his eyes to bleed alpha red. “I’ve seen them cub. I’ve watched them kill. I’m reminding everyone here that these things are not something to go after on your own. Because if you do, they will kill you. But first they will torture you. They will pull you apart, bit by bit, and laugh as you scream. Because they won’t muzzle you, or gag you. They like the screams. They get off on them.  These things aren’t like us. They don’t have a human side keeping them in check like we do. And if they do, then that human part is either so small or so twisted and rotten that these things find enjoyment in killing. And if, when we go after them, we fail, they’ll kill us just the same.”

The room was silent as Joe let the alpha bleed away and he settled back, leaning slightly into Sam to keep himself grounded. Everyone else was comprehending what he’d just said. This was something they’d faced before, the thought that if they don’t kill the monster, it will kill them, but never had it been thrust so violently into their faces in such a calm voice filled with the pain of knowing just what the monsters could do to them if they failed. They’d never been forced to acknowledge it. And now they were.

“Well.” Sam said after a long, silent moment. “Now that everyone is caught up and my boyfriend decided to scare the crap out of everyone, I think it’s time for training.”


	7. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. A bunch of shit happened last week and I didn't have time to write but I finally got it written so enjoy and let me know what you think!

Everyone perked up a little at the mention of training.

“Chandra, Stiles, you two in the forest, Derek and Zach you’ll accompany the one that is not your mate because I don’t need their to be frottage going on during training that’s for afterwards.” Sam ordered. “Chandra and Stiles your job is to mask ad cover the trail you and your shifter leave behind as you head deep into the forest. The rest of you, you will be split into two groups. Erica, Joseph, and Scott you will track Stiles and Zach. Jackson, Boyd, and Isaac you will track Chandra and Derek. The first tracking to corner their target and force a surrender earns the right to first showers when you all get back. The mage and shifter that doesn’t get cornered first has second showers. Then it is those of us remaining here, and then the losing mage, and finally the losing trackers. Mages you have a one minute head start that will begin once all of us are outside. You have full use of all your powers except burning flames. I don’t need any forest fire calls, understand Chandra? No repeats of Wausau.”

Chandra nodded, grinning without any embarrassment. “You got it teach!”

“Everyone outside then!” Sam ordered.

Everyone scrambled to their feet, ready for something to distract them from the warnings they’d just been given.

“What if those things come?” Stiles asked when they were all streaming out to the back porch.

“Scream.” Sam told him. “We’ll hear you.”

“Can I stay for this?” John asked.

“It’ll be pretty boring here.” Lydia told him. “Until they come back and do fight training here it’s a lot of sitting around.”

“I’d like to stay.” John said, smiling.

“It’s fine with me.” Sam said. She looked at Derek. “Derek? Any objections?”

“None at all.” The wolf said, grinning up at her. His eyes were already glowing red.

“Alright then!” Sam said grinning. “Mages and company your free minute begins NOW!”

As soon as she screamed that the two pairs took off for the forest, sparks flooding from Chandra’s hands and fog pouring off of Stiles as they both began the spells to mask their scent.

“What was that?” John asked, coming to stand at the railing with Sam.

“Their ways of masking scent.” Sam explained. “Chandra is training in fire magic. Her magic shows itself in sparks or licks of flames. The spell she was using is a simple masking one but do to her fire magic, it appears as sparks. And Stiles is a water and air mage. His magic shows itself in puffs of air or flowing water. Fog is both air and water so that’s what his masking spell manifests as.”

“That’s pretty neat.” John said.

Sam chuckled. “Yes I suppose it is.”

“What does yours appear as?” Lydia asked from the porch swing where she and Danny had already settled in to wait the tracking out.

“Different things.” Sam shrugged. “Depends on the time of day. When it’s bright it tends to be sparks, early morning when the dew’s still everywhere it’s usually fog. At night it’s just simple air or fog or water droplets. Evening it’ll usually appear as dirt falling from my hands.”

“You’re a master of all four elements?” John asked. “I think I remember Stiles or you saying something about that.”

Sam nodded. “I am.”

“And how come you can shift into other creatures, and Chandra and Stiles can’t?” John asked, looking at Sam. “I’ve been wondering that.”

Sam opened her mouth and then closed it again as if thinking about how to explain it before opening it again. “Every Druid, or mage that goes through Druid training without taking the vows like Stiles is doing, has a special talent we find when we master. I shifted into a wolf during my mastery ceremony. May thinks I got this talent because I’m bonded to a werewolf. I don’t know. You don’t know your power until you get it. Chandra will be getting hers soon. She’ll be mastering Sunday under the full moon.”

“That’s a very important thing, right?” John asked.

Sam nodded. “It’s the culmination of almost two years of her working hard to learn her magic. It will certainly be a sight to see. The last time I saw a fire mastery was about a month before Stiles came to the Ranch. After that I was working with him and Chandra all the time, and then we came here. One second.” She turned her attention to the wolves gathered on the yard, tensely awaiting her instructions. “Wolves RELEASED!” She shouted. Her eyes flashed white for just a moment as she shouted it.

“Why’d your eyes flash?” The Sheriff asked, a bit confused.

“My eyes flash when I use magic.” Sam explained. “The color depends on the element I’m using at the time. I just used air to project my voice to the mages in the forest so they knew their minute was up.”

“Why have I never stayed at these before?” John asked. “I’m actually learning things. Unlike with my son where I’m told as we go.”

Sam laughed and moved to sit on the porch steps. The Sheriff followed her. “If you have any questions, now would be the time to ask them. There may not be time in the future.”

“Is my son really in danger?” John asked immediately.

Sam heard Lydia and Danny’s hushed conversation stall and she sighed. “We all are Sheriff. Every last one of us.”

The Sheriff didn’t say anything just nodded and looked out at the forest. Then he sighed. “Is it always this boring?”

Sam laughed and heard Lydia and Danny snickering. “Usually Joe stays behind as well. But with Seth gone with Allison he’s taking the spot on that team for a bit.”

“We’ve had plenty of fun conversations.” Lydia calls over.

“They like interrogating me and Joe on werewolves, magic, and werewolf/mage relationships.” Sam told John, smiling.

“Well it’s not like Derek will tell us some of the stuff Joe does.” Danny said, smirking.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Well that is one difference between our two friendly alphas. Joseph has no shame whatsoever.”

“What are others?” John asked.

“Joseph doesn’t order people around very often.” Sam told John, smiling fondly as she thought of her center. “He prefers to suggest things. If he gives someone at the Ranch an order, they follow it. Joe giving an order, means shit’s going down.”

“He’s also got a sense of humor.” Danny added.

Sam and Lydia chuckled.

“A weird one.” Lydia clarified.

“Derek has one.” Sam said. “It’s just very tiny and hard to find.”

“Like his common sense?” Lydia asked, smirking.

Sam and Danny full-out laughed at that one.

“Maybe this isn’t so boring.” John said, smiling at them.

“Just wait till someone wins and they all come back.” Lydia said. “Sam and Derek run them into the ground.”

Sam shrugged. “It’s Friday night. They don’t need to be anywhere tomorrow morning.”

“You do this every Friday night?” John asked. “I’m usually gone right after the meeting.”

“Every other.” Sam corrected. “The weeks we don’t train are date nights. And typically every Wednesday the pack comes to our house and Derek and I train them there.”

“Is this whole schedule thing for Stiles?” John asked.

“Partially.” Sam told him. “In the beginning it was entirely for him. He couldn’t handle too much of them being around before he started to get upset again. So it was just Wednesdays at first. Then we added every other Fridays when we could. Some weeks he can’t even handle the Wednesday if he had too much of them at school or a particularly bad nightmare. But every other Friday was a good frame. Now it’s gotten up to him spending weekends with Derek, although most of that spent away from the pack. He’s getting better. He’s healing. Although interactions he has with the pack are still usually supervised by one of us because my instincts drive me mad knowing he’s alone with someone who hurt him. The first time he tried playing video games with Scott at our house I was texting or calling very five/ten minutes to make sure he was okay. But he’s getting better. A lot of the schedule now is because Joe and Derek can’t spend a lot of time together with them both being alphas and all.”

“It’s nice to hear it straight.” John said. “Stiles keeps skirting around it like I might break.”

Sam chuckled. “That’s Stiles for you. Always protecting others before himself. That’s part of what makes him such a great mage. His mind wants to protect others so his magic does as well.”

“He’s always done that. Always cared about others more than himself.” John said, smiling fondly at the memories.

“Sam?” Lydia called over.

“Yea?” Sam answered, twisting to look at her.

“Do you have Joe tracking Zach and Stiles because if he tracked Derek it would be seen to Derek’s wolf as a threat?” She asked, curious.

Sam grinned. “Yea that’s a lot of the reason.”

“What’s the rest?” Danny asked.

“Joe asked me if he could track Stiles.” Sam told him, smiling.

A howl rang through the woods and the Sheriff jumped, putting a hand on his gun.

“Stand down Sheriff.” Sam said, getting to her feet with a smile. “That wasn’t a call for help.”

“It was a victory call.” Lydia said, grinning as she and Danny got up to move to the railing. “Who was it?” She demanded, looking at Sam.

“Joe.” Sam said grinning. “Erica, Joseph, and Scott found Stiles and Zach.”

Danny laughed and Lydia glared at him as she dug in her purse before handing him a bill.

“You’re annoying.” Lydia declared.

“I was right.” Danny teased her.

Sam rolled her eyes at them. “They make bets every time.” She explained to the Sheriff. “Lydia almost always wins but every once in a while Danny gets lucky.”

“Jackson’s gonna be mad.” Lydia said. “He hates getting last showers.”

“He’ll have to just stick his complaints where the sun ain’t ever gonna shine.” Sam said smiling sweetly.

“Now what?” The Sheriff asked, coming to stand by Sam.

“Well right now you should return to the porch Sheriff. The wolves are about to show allegiance.” Lydia advised, looking down to him.

“Sam’s the only one who should be down there during that.” Danny added.

The Sheriff looked between them and Sam, who didn’t turn her attention from the forest, before hurrying back up to stand beside the other two humans.

“Why are her eyes glowing?” John asked, looking a little concerned.

“It’s what happens when she uses magic but not an element.” Lydia explained. “She’s sending out a power beacon to her coven so they can lead their groups home.”

“Here they come.” Danny said quietly, looking excited. In the forest you could thumps and the crunch of leaves as the pack and coven returned. “Watch this.” He told the Sheriff.

First out of the trees was Joseph, in full beta shift running straight for Sam as she calmly walked out to the center of the yard. Just as it looked like he was about to run straight over he, he jumped and landed on the other side of her, spinning around for another run. At the same time Zach came out of the trees, shifted as a cougar, who did the same thing, jumping just a hair over Sam’s head while Joe jumped over them both from another direction.

As the two of them stopped jumping over Sam and merely circle around her, always staying opposite each other, out from the trees came Stiles and Chandra, walking calmly forward, eyes glowing. They stopped about fifteen feet in front of Sam, about five feet apart, and raised their hands, palms up. Out from their hands shot ribbons of color. Stiles’s hands had ribbons of blue that looked like rippling water and ribbons of grayish white like looked like swirling smoke. Chandra’s ribbons were all red, orange, and yellow, ribbons of fire stretching outwards. All of the ribbons stretched forward, going over the circling shifters and twining themselves around the arms Sam raised to accept them.

“What’s happening?” John whispered, glancing at the others who were just grinning at the display.

“They’re showing her respect.” Danny whispered back. “She’s their alpha. Their leader. Watch. The pack’s about to come in.”

As soon as Danny said that Derek walked from the forest. He’d dropped his shift but also his shirt and shoes leaving him only in the loose fitting jeans he’d been wearing earlier. His eyes were still bright red though. He didn’t look at Sam or any of the coven as he strode forward before turning smoothly and facing the forest again. Scott and Isaac burst from the forest, running straight for Derek, running side by side before launching themselves over Derek as Joe and Zach had done to Sam and landed on the other side of him. They skittered to a stop and started circles around Derek, running opposite ways and crossing in the front and the back.

Next Erica and Boyd came running from the forest. They did the same thing Scott and Isaac had done, jumping over them and Derek before forming a circle outside theirs.

And then Jackson came out of the woods. He was running faster than the rest, blue eyes flashing, as he gained speed and launched over all of them before skittering to a stop behind Derek and raising his head in a howl.

Immediately all of the other wolves in the pack, minus Derek, came to a stop and joined in the call.

The coven answered the call, Joe and Zach howling towards the sky and Stiles and Chandra just screaming.

And they all fell silent, breathing heavy.

“Well that was loud.” Sam said, breaking the silence. Everyone relaxed, laughing and grinning at each other.

“What was that?” John asked, looking at Lydia and Aiden.

“They do it every time.” Lydia told him. “It’s just them showing who they following basically. They don’t need to do it but they all enjoy it, especially so close to the full moon, so Sam and Derek humor them.”

“What do they do now?” John asked.

“Depends.” Lydia shrugged. “Tonight will probably be speed training to help them get faster to avoid getting killed by whatever these things are in town.”

“Right you are.” Sam called up to the redhead, grinning. The coven and the pack all groaned loudly.

“Oh be quiet all of you.” Derek said. “It’ll be fun!”

“For you!” Isaac exclaimed. “You just sit there and laugh at us.”

“Yes we do.” Sam said grinning. “And remember, for every time you get hit, you do ten pushups.”

“It was five last time!” Jackson protested.

“And I upped it to ten.” Derek told him, grinning in a slightly maniacal way.

“Same rules as always kiddies.” Sam said, walking over by the stairs. Derek joined her there. “Don’t hurt or maim or injure or kill.”

“Begin.” Derek and Sam said together before sitting on the steps.

Immediately most of the wolves seemed to go in some sort of panic, shifting and scattering out around the yard. Joe came over, walking calmly, and sat on the bottom steps by Sam’s legs. Stiles and Chandra still stood where they had for their magic show and they were grinning widely. They’re eyes were glowing as they turned their backs on each other.

“God I love this part.” Stiles announced before his eyes flashed white and across the yard Jackson was blown backwards.

“Ten to Jackson!” Danny announced.

“Ten to Scott!” Lydia added happily as Chandra hit Scott with a fireball. It didn’t seem to burn or hurt him though, merely blow him back a bit.

Danny and Lydia continued calling out push-ups as Stiles and Chandra continued launching bursts of magic at the shifters around the circle.

“Ten to Zach!” Stiles crowed happily as he drenched Zach.

John walked over and crouched behind Derek and Sam. “What are they doing?”

“It’s a speed test.” Sam told him. “Stiles and Chandra get to practice their magic and the pack plus Zach, and usually Seth, get to practice dodging. And we get a show.”

“They have to learn to read a mage’s body language and follow their eyes in order to defend themselves and each other during an actual battle.” Derek added. “It works out quite well.”

“Although the pack doesn’t particularly like it.” Sam said smirking.

“Screw them!” Danny called. “This is hilarious!”

“Happy you stayed now?” Sam asked, turning to smile at John.

John thought for a moment and then laughed and sat down behind her. “I have to say I am. Stiles looks like he’s having a lot of fun.”

And he did. Stiles was launching water and air blasts at his friends, grinning and laughing as they threw themselves out of the way.

“He’s getting stronger.” Sam said. “Gaining control of the immense power inside him. He’ll be stronger than me one day.”

“Well let’s hope he still listens to you.” John said. “You keep him in check.”

The others chucked and Sam grinned. “I’ll always keep him in line Sheriff, stronger or no he still knows better than to use his power for himself. He won’t hurt anyone.”

“Well that’s reassuring.” John said, grinning.

“Oh Derek.” Sam said, looking at the wolf. “I almost forgot I know you like spending time with just Stiles on the weekends but tomorrow at noon you are reporting to our house no getting out of it.”

“Why?” Derek asked, slightly annoyed.

“It’s Allison’s birthday on Sunday.” Sam told him. “She’s turning eighteen so we’re all Skyping with her tomorrow. We’re going to give her gifts when they get back in a couple of weeks.”

“Why not Sunday?” Lydia asked. “It would make more sense to do it day of.”

“The full moon’s Sunday night.” Sam reminded her. “I’ll have to spend the whole day cooking if you guys are coming over for dinner before the runs. In my experience wolves eat like rabid hyenas after runs and eat like wolves before it.”

“I did apologize for that.” Joe said, rolling his eyes and bending his head back to look up at her.

“And I forgave you for almost eating May’s table.” Sam said, kissing Joe’s forehead. “But I like my table so we’re not going to have a repeat of that.”

“I don’t think I want to know.” John declared.

“You don’t.” Sam and Joe agreed at once.

“I’ll make sure we’re there.” Derek told Sam, smiling. “He’d hate me if we missed it.”

“That he would.” John agreed. “But he’d forgive you soon enough.”

“Yea the bedroom tends to take care of all that.” Lydia said, smirking.

John shoved his fingers in his ears. “I am not hearing anything about anything.”

They all laughed, Derek was also blushing a bit, but then they all settled in to watch their friends train. And if anyone had been watching them they’d see Joe leaning on Sam and Sam leaning onto Derek. Lydia and Danny came over and sat with them, Lydia directly behind Derek and Sam, knees pressed against both of them while the Sheriff was a bit behind her, more behind Sam, and Danny had his shin pressed against Derek’s arm. And if you’d bothered to smell them you’d find nothing but content in their scents. Because while something was in town and set on killing, they were with people they cared about watching other people they care about dodge bursts of magic from two more people they care about. And none of them could really think of anything better to be doing on a Friday night. Because this was a family, a weird one that still has trust issues on occasion and the inability to be around one another on other occasions, but all families have that. And theirs was still family, even when they tried to kill each other.


	8. Allison

“ALLY!” Stiles screamed throwing himself onto Sam’s lap so he could see the screen.

“Get off of me!” Sam exclaimed, pushing him. “Your knee is in my stomach!”

“That’s enough children.” Allison said on screen.

“I got him.” Derek said, smiling fondly as he walked over and picked Stiles up easily.

“Thank you Derek.” Sam said, smiling sweetly as Stiles fought to get out of Derek’s control.

“I hate you.” Stiles finally declared, going limp in Derek’s arms.

“No hating while I’m on.” Allison declared. “Is everyone there?” She asked, focusing her attention on Sam.

“Chan and Zach had to go out so Chandra could strengthen one of the house’s wards. I could feel it weakening.”

“What’s the update on that?” Allison asked. She hated that she couldn’t be there to help them but Sam was still keeping her updated, just in case one of her family members as an idea of what they could be or how to kill them.

“I’ll tell you it all when the kiddies go to bed.” Sam promised her, smiling.

“Hey!” Stiles protested, knowing Sam was talking about him.

“Calm down Stiles.” Allison said fondly, rolling her eyes, and laughing. “Sit down and be calm, idiot.”

Derek walked over and sat down next to Sam on the couch, still carrying Stiles so the boy ended up in his lap.

“I hate you.” Stiles muttered.

“No you don’t.” Derek answered, smirking as he kissed the back of Stiles’s shoulder.

Stiles opened his mouth to answer but was cut off.

“You’re a sappy ass idiot in love with him don’t even try to deny it.” Joe said, vaulting himself over the couch and sitting down next to Sam.

Stiles snapped his mouth shut.

“Good to see you Joe.” Allison said, smiling and waving at the boy.

Joe grinned and waved back. “Hey Ally. Where’s Seth?”

“Out taking a run quick.” Allison answered. “With it this close to the moon and the rest of you not here with us he’s getting really antsy.”

“You two going to be okay for the moon?” Sam asked, worrying a bit.

“Yea we’re with one of my aunts and cousins and they all know not to shoot him.”

“Good.” Sam said. “I don’t want to have to kill anyone for hurting one of my boys.” She said it with a smile but they all knew the threat was real. If someone, anyone, shot Seth, she’d drive down there and tear their throat out without a single hesitation.

“I hear Allison!” Zach shouted, racing into the house and through it fly over the back of the couch and end up with his legs hooked on Joe’s neck and his face in Sam’s lap, grinning and waving like an idiot at the Allison on the laptop sitting on the table.

Allison laughed and waved back. “Hi Zach!”

“Even I don’t get that good of a response.” Chandra said, pouting a little as she walked in.

“Hey Chan!” Allison said, waving even though she couldn’t see her. “Get in the view!”

Chandra hopped over the back of the couch, joining the pile of limbs and everyone groaned and moved around in the pile. Allison was laughing as she watched them all rearrange each other. It ended up with Derek sitting on one side of the view with Stiles on his lap, Sam in the middle with Joe on her lap, and Zach and Chandra on the other side sort of both sitting on each other.

“Are you done?” Allison asked, smiling and holding back her laughter.

“Yeap.” Sam said, poking her head over Joe’s shoulder to smile at Allison.

“Good.” Allison said. “So tell me, what’s been going on?”

“Other than the monsters.” Sam added.

“Yea I don’t want to hear about the fun stuff I’m missing.” Allison teased.

“I got slapped with a fish.” Zach declares happily.

“You did?” Allison asked, looking a little concerned as well as confused, worried, and annoyed that this is her life now.

“Mhmm. I didn’t duck when Sam threw it across the room at Derek last week.”

“I almost threw up that night.” Chandra declared. “He reeked.”

“I told him to duck.” Sam said, shrugging.

“I thought it was funny.” Stiles smirked.

“I hate all of you.” Zach declared.

“I didn’t say anything!” Derek protested.

“Okay fine I don’t hate you.” Zach conceded.

“I did a spell to get the stench off.” Sam reminded him.

“Fine fine I forgive you all!” Zach exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

“You guys are adorable.” Seth’s voice came through the speakers.

“Seth!” Everyone exclaimed, attention snapping back.

“Didn’t even notice me come in, did you?”

Everyone blushed but Joe shrugged.

“I did but they were being weird.”

Sam reached up from where her arms were around his waist and flicked his nose. “Shush.”

“Scratch my last comment.” Seth said, grinning. “That’s adorable.”

“You can shut up too.” Sam told him.

He held his ends up in mock-surrender but both of them were grinning.

“How have you two been?” Derek asked around Stiles’s fidgeting arms.

“Good.” Allison said.

“I got threatened.” Seth said at the same time.

Allison thumped his head. “You weren’t supposed to say that!” She hissed at him.

“Opps.” He shrugged.

“Who threatened you?” Sam demanded.

“Allison’s cousin.” Seth answered. “She thought I was an omega following Allison around. She shot me in the leg.”

“You are not going down there you have a full moon to deal with.” Joe said, turning around to look at Sam. He was anticipating her instinct to go down there and shoot that girl for hurting Seth.

“Did they apologize?” Sam asked, ignoring Joe’s calm, level stare.

“Yea.” Seth nodded. “It wasn’t even wolfsbane so it healed good.”

“Allison didn’t you tell them you were bringing a wolf with?” Chandra asked.

“Yea but Johanna’s a bit off the radar sometimes. She didn’t get the message.”

“She does make delicious apple pie though.” Seth declared. “So it was okay.”

“Ah the sure-fire way to a werewolf’s heart.” Chandra sighed, rolling her eyes.

“How do you think I made this guy trust me?” Sam said, pushing Joe around in her lap.

“Lasagna.” Joe stated. “Very fucking good lasagna. When are you making that again?”

Sam rolled her eyes. “I’ll make it Friday for date night.”

“Whoo!” Joe said, fist pumping.

“You better make enough for all of us.” Stiles told her. “That lasgana’s fucking awesome.”

“I second that motion.” Chandra said.

“I want some too!” Seth whined.

“I’ll make it when you come back.” Sam told him, smiling fondly.

“Yay!” Seth exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.

“Put your arms down you stink.” Allison told him, shoving an elbow in his side.

Seth pouted but dropped his arms. “So what else have we missed?” He asked, looking curious and excited.

And so the coven sat there for hours, talking to their far away members. Long after the sun went down, Chandra was asleep on Zach and Stiles and Joe were leaned against each other, drifting off as well. On the screen Seth was curled up on the bed Allison was now sitting on, fast asleep.

“Alright everyone to bed.” Sam said, smiling fondly at them all.

There was mumbling from the sleeping ones but soon enough Zach carried Chandra off and Derek led Stiles and Joe up to their rooms, leaving Sam and Allison alone to talk.

“So how’s it all going?” Allison asked softly.

“I don’t know if we’re going to make it.” Sam stated blandly. “These things, they’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen or heard of before.”

“And you have no ideas?”

Sam shook her head. “And I called May and she said that she doesn’t know either. She’s going to get in touch with some friends of hers but she said not to hold out hope. These things are dangerous but unheard of.”

“And that makes them even more dangerous.” Allison sighed.

Sam nodded. “I wish you and Seth were back here. It’d make it better.”

“Just a couple weeks left and we’ll be home.” Allison reassured her. “It’s all going to be okay.”

“Is it? Because I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since they came to town. Joe has nightmares every night and Chandra is haunted by that body Isaac found. And the pack and us are still at odds and I don’t know when that’s going to stop. Stiles still smells of pain sometimes according to Derek and Joe because he can’t forget the words the pack said that drove him away in the first place and I have no idea how to help any of them because I can’t even fucking help myself.”

Allison smiled softly. “You’ll do it because you’re you. You’re the girl who ran from everything she’d ever known because she couldn’t kill someone. You’re the girl that Mastered all four elements because she never wanted to feel weak like she did in the past and she wanted to protect the boy she’d fallen in love with. You’re the girl that saw a broken boy being held together by the sheer will of himself and his friend when he did everything he could to hide it. You’re the girl that took that broken boy and made him whole again by giving him a family that loves him to death and would do anything to keep him safe. You can do this. We’ll be back soon and everyone will survive this. I know we will. Because none of us are giving up. None of us will believe anything different. And you were the one that told me that belief is one of the strongest magics out there. And we all have it inside of us. And all of us believe.”

Sam smiled, feeling better. “You’re the best Ally.”

She grinned. “I know.”

“Have you made your choice yet? You said you were aiming to make it by your eighteenth birthday.”

Allison nodded, blushing a bit. “Yea. I decided.”

“Am I correcting in assuming you’ve chosen yes?”

Allison nodded again.

Sam clapped her hands together happily. “This will be great. Two pairs in one night!”

Allison laughed. “Yea. I haven’t told Seth or my dad yet though so, you know, don’t say anything?”

“You got it.” Sam said. “My lips are sealed. But I have something I want to ask you about as well.”

Allison leaned forward, listening intently. “Shoot.”


	9. Mastering

The next day there was barbeque sauce on the ceiling and every male had been forcibly ejected from the kitchen by either Erica or Chandra.

“I’m going to kill one of them.” Erica muttered, coming back after throwing Stiles back outside to where the boys had been regulated.

“Please don’t.” Sam said. “I don’t want to deal with hiding the body right now.” She was at the stove, cooking and looking like she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

“Are we really going to need this much food?” Lydia asked, looking around.

“Unless you want them eating each other.” Chandra told her. “I’ve seen wolves start chewing on the silverware because there wasn’t enough food after a full moon run.”

“We’ve never ate this much before.” Erica said, looking around in astonishment.

“The more shifters on the run the hungrier you are at the end.” Sam told her. “And as Chandra’s mastering tonight that increases both mine and hers appetites as well as Stiles’s as he’ll be there for it so we’ll be eating more than we normally do during the moon. And if there is anything we don’t eat tonight, which I highly doubt there will be, we’ll just eat it this week.”

“What’s the probability of this night going as planned?” Chandra asked, looking at Sam.

“Zero.” Sam answered. “Nothing we plan ever goes to plan. I just hope it all goes to shit after we eat dinner. I’ve had enough of things interrupting my dinner.”

“The boys want to know how much longer it’s going to be.” Erica announced.

“Ten minutes.” Sam answered. “Maybe. Joe you’re allowed back in here I need you for something.”

“On his way.” Erica said, resuming her current job of cutting up a watermelon.

Joe came into the kitchen and smiled at everyone on his way to Sam’s side. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, setting his head on her shoulder. “What’s up?” He asked.

She murmured something to him in Polish and he smiled. “Course.” He pulled away, stopping to kiss her cheek, before leaving the room again. They could hear him go upstairs.

“Seriously?” Chandra asked, looking at her.

Sam just smiled. “Keep going we’ve got ten minutes.”

“But you’re seriously going to?” Chandra asked.

Sam sighed. “Yes. Yes we are. Now work! I want to get done before the wolves tear this place apart.”

Chandra grinned, bouncing happily for a few seconds before going back to work. “I can’t believe you’re doing it.” She muttered. “Oh my god.”

“Doing what?” Lydia asked.

“You’ll see.” Sam told her, smiling. She looked at Chandra and rolled her eyes as the girl was still dancing as she worked.

 

Ten minutes later everyone was moving food from the kitchen out to the big table the boys had set up outside. All the shifters were stepping foot to foot, obviously energized from the full moon that was already rising. They set all the food out and took their seats, Sam at one end of the table and Derek at the other with the pack and coven mixed throughout the rest. As soon as Sam and Derek had taken the first bites of their food all the shifters dug in, devouring their food. The moon’s pull was tugging their wolf higher and they were instinctively trying to get as much food in them as possible for the run later.

“So what’s this surprise thing?” Erica asked when everyone had slowed down and was eating at a normal pace.

Sam smiled down at her. “Well. We were planning on telling it after the run.”

“But,” Joe continued. “We decided to tell everyone now.”

“That way if mastering Chandra takes too much out of me, you guys all still know.” Sam added.

Chandra grinned. She was excited to master. But she was also excited for this.

“Joseph and I have decided that after this school year, we’re going to get married.” At Sam’s words Joe pulled out a little ring box and set it on the table by Sam’s hand.

There was a huge clamour, everyone shouting congratulations and asking about the wedding and such and Sam waited patiently for them all to quiet down, taking the time to open the ring box and pull out the ring. It was silver and thicker than most rings, intricately carved but uniquely simple at the same time. Sam slipped it onto her hand and smiled at everyone as they began to quiet down.

“Why now?” Zach asked.

“I’ve grown tired of people on the street leering at me.” Sam said. “Joe and I plan to travel this summer, if all is safe here. I want to be able to say husband instead of boyfriend when I introduce him to people and not have it be a lie.”

“I’m helping you plan.” Chandra declared.

Sam laughed. “You and Allison both. She and you would be my bridesmaids. If you both agree.”

Chandra squealed and Zach and Scott, the two shifters nearest her, winced from the shrill pitch. “Oh my god! Yes! Yes! This is awesome oh my god!”

Everyone chuckled at her and then looked back at them.

“When do you plan to have the wedding?” Stiles asked, looking almost as excited as Chandra.

“Late June.” Joe told him. “We want all of July and most of August to travel.”

“Better get planning then.” Derek commented. “Weddings take time to plan.”

“Yea we’re hoping to start working on it after we kill whatever these new things are in town.” Sam said. “And speaking of killing, no one kill each other tonight, okay? I am not dealing with coven/pack politics tonight.”

“Is it time to go get ready then?” Chandra asked, excited to Master.

Sam nodded. “Yes.”

Chandra squealed, once again making Zach and Scott wince before jumping up from the table and running inside.

“Sorry.” Sam said. “She’s pretty excited about this.”

“Oh shut up.” Zach said smiling. “You’re just as excited for her to Master as she is.”

Sam grinned. “I can’t deny that. She’s my first student I’m allowed to be super excited.”

“What kind of ritual is it?” Lydia asked, curious.

“You can come if you want.” Sam said. “The only people that can’t be there are shifters. It messes with the power balance.”

“Awesome.” Lydia said grinning.

“Can I come to?” Danny asked.

“Sure.” Sam shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“Chandra’s calling for you.” Joe said.

Sam sighed. “Alright. Lydia, Danny, just wait here with Stiles when these guys head off for their run. Chan and I’ll be out in an undetermined amount of time.”

“Do you need my help? “Lydia asked.

Sam thought for a moment. “Yea you can come in. She might calm down with a female there she knows actually has an idea as to what fashion is.”

Lydia laughed but got up as well, accompanying Sam inside. They went upstairs and had barely reached the door to Chandra and Zach’s room before the door burst open, they were grabbed and pulled inside, and the door shut behind them.

“Help me.” Chandra begged.

They looked around the room, eyes wide in shock. There were clothes _everywhere_. It looked like every piece of clothing Chandra owned had been thrown around the entire room.

“Go in the bathroom and cool off.” Sam said, looking at Chandra first. “We’ll get an outfit together and then Lydia and I can help you with your hair and make-up.”

Chandra nodded frantically and practically sprinted to the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.

“Good thing I brought you.” Sam said, looking at Lydia.

Lydia nodded in agreement. “What does she need to wear?”

“Something to represent fire.” Sam told her. “Since that’s what she’s Mastering. And preferably something she could easily fight in if the time came. Most of us never fight in the clothes we Mastered in but we keep them close by in case we need to.”

Lydia nodded and then started working her way through the room, cleaning the clothes up as well as sorting through to find what she thought would work.

“What are you wearing?” Lydia asked, glancing at Sam.

“Black jeans and a purple shirt.” Sam told her.

Lydia rolled her eyes. “You have no style.”

Sam grinned. “Nope.”

“Go get changed.” Lydia told her. “I’ll handle Chandra.”

“Okie dokie.” Sam shrugged. “Don’t kill her.”

“No promises.” Lydia said, smirking.

Sam rolled her eyes, leaving the room.

Outside Danny and Stiles were covering all the food still on the table for everyone to eat when they got back from their respective full moon activities. The shifters had all left already, needing to get running.

“So what’s this whole ritual we’re going to tonight?” Danny asked, glancing at Stiles.

Stiles shrugged. “I don’t know the whole thing. The main thing is that Sam’s going to surround Chandra with power, drawn from her and me but mainly from Chandra herself. Altogether the ritual itself won’t take long. The preparations and the aftermath may take a while though.”

“Preparations?”

“ _Clothes_.” Stiles said, rolling his eyes.

Danny laughed. “Try being with Lydia before prom. Then you can complain to me about having to deal with girls and getting ready for something.”

Stiles grinned. “I can imagine your pain.”

Danny nodded. “It took four and a half hours.”

Stiles winced in sympathy. “My condolences.”

“Thanks man.” He looked up at the house. “How long do you think these girls will take?”

Stiles shrugged, covering the last bit of food and then dropping down into a chair. “Never know with Chandra. Sometimes she takes forever and other times she’s in and out in a few minutes. Sam typically doesn’t take very long and she helps move Chandra along but with Lydia in there as well it’s a complete toss-up as to when they actually get out here.”

“Does the ritual have to be done at a certain time?”

Stiles shook his head. “Nah. As long as the full moon hangs in the sky it can be done.”

“So they may take forever.” Danny concluded.

“Yup.” Stiles said, popping the ‘p’ as he spoke.

Danny sighed and sat down as well. “I think this may be part of the reason I’m gay.” He muttered.

Stiles laughed. “Didn’t feel like spending date nights waiting for a girl to be ready?”

“God no.” Danny said. “I do enough of that just being friends with Lydia.”

“I can see the logical progression there.” Stiles said, nodding. “I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that with Derek. He just shows up in whatever and doesn’t care what people think.”

“Yea guys are great at that.” Danny agreed.

“Still haven’t found anyone ne then?”

“Nah. I figure anyone I get close to will only get dragged into this hell-fest so I’ve decided one night stands are good enough for me for a while.”

“Think you’ll find someone already in this hell-fest so you don’t bring anyone new in?”

Danny shrugged. “Maybe. I was talking to Sam and she said she’d see about me going to the Ranch this summer for a couple weeks. I want to learn as much as I can about this world.”

Stiles nodded. “You’ll learn a lot there if you do go. It seemed like I was constantly learning when I was there. And I’m still learning, even now.”

“What’s it like there?”

“Like nothing else.” Stiles told him, smiling at the memories. “Everywhere you go there’s a sense of safety and warmth. Like nothing bad could ever happen there.”

“But things do happen?”

Stiles nodded. “They have four Nemetons on the Ranch. One based around each element. It’s where they hold the Masterings and matings and all those rituals. But those trees also draw all sorts of things onto the property. But whenever something arises, there’s no panic. There’s no rush or fear in any of them. They merely gather together and go out to get rid of the threat. It’s amazing.”

“Well I hope Sam convinces May to allow me to visit. I’d love to talk to the people there about what their lives are like.”

Stiles grinned. “I’m sure May’ll agree. The only people she’d never allow there are Jackson and Scott. And that’s only because she still dislikes them after the whole me leaving the pack thing. And you didn’t even have anything to do with that whole thing so she’ll like you well enough.”

Danny chuckled. “That’s good to know at least.”

Stiles nodded. “You’ll enjoy it there. None of them mind curious questions.”

“That where Sam and Joe picked up their non-caring manner to the questions Lydia and I have?”

“Probably.” Stiles shrugged. “They don’t like to talk much about their past. I’m starting to see why. They didn’t have the best childhoods.”

“Did anyone at that Ranch?” Danny asked, looking curious.

“There’s this little girl there.” Stiles said, grinning at the memories. “Her name’s Amerlia. Her mom and dad came to the Ranch looking to get away from some hunters and May and Boris took them in like they do anyone in need. Amerlia was born two years later. She’s going to have the best damn childhood in the world at that place. She’s surrounded by people that would kill or die to protect her and an aunt and uncle that know nearly a hundred ways to kill someone within a second and without a sound. That pack is going to spoil her rotten.”

“They all love kids?” Danny asked.

“May has very few rules.” Stiles told him. “Don’t tell people where we are. Don’t tell people how to find us. Don’t kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it. And never, _ever_ allow a child to die when you could save them.”

“That sounds a good place for a kid to live.” Danny commented.

“Amerlia will have a very good childhood.” Stiles agreed.

Danny and Stiles both looked towards the house, ending their conversation as the girls came back outside. And for two guys who prefer the company of other guys over girls, they were quite shocked at the sight of the girls in front of them.

Lydia came out first, grinning wide at her success with the other two. Sam was behind her. She was dressed in dark jeans, black combat boots, and a purple shirt that showed off her body and shimmered in the light from the moon above them. Her hair was down still, the waves of it falling down her back but the sides were pinned back with silver pins. She looked like the Druid Stiles knew she was. But it was Chandra that had their jaws open in shock.

Chandra’s long, black curly hair was hanging free, rolling down her back. One side was pinned back with a clip that looked like fire itself and just wrapped itself around her hair to hold it in place. She was in black jeans that hugged her legs but were obviously still loose enough to be comfortable by the way she smoothly walked. Her shirt looked like silk, the red fabric shimmering in the moonlight making it look like fire was dancing across her body. Down her arms runes and symbols were moving and twining themselves together, flowing easily across her skin. She looked utterly magic and completely otherworldly.

“Whoa.” Stiles gasped.

“How do I look?” Chandra asked, holding her arms out slightly for inspection.

“Amazing.” Danny told her, sincerity clear in his voice. “If I wasn’t gay and you didn’t have a mate I’d totally be in love.”

Chandra grinned. “Lydia’s handy work.”

“I work magic of my own every once in a while.” Lydia said smugly.

Everyone laughed at that.

“Alright.” Sam said. “Let’s get going. Don’t want to be late.”

Chandra clapped her hands, looking excited. “This is going to be great.” She squealed before running into the forest, Sam and Lydia right on her tail.

“Come on.” Stiles said, getting up and looking at Danny. “They move fast when they want to. Don’t want to get left behind.”

Danny nodded and the two boys hurried into the forest after the girls. They found them all standing in front of the Nemeton James had created when he honored his wife after he death.

“I hate being here.” Sam said to no one in particular.

Stiles and Chandra both quickly stepped closer to her, providing comfort in their presence.

“What happened to him anyways?” Lydia asked. “James I think you said his name was.”

“He’s back at the Ranch.” Sam told her. “May and Anna spend a lot of time with him, as much as he’d allow really. Most of the time he’s alone in the woods, trying to find some reason to keep living.”

“Why hasn’t he killed himself if he hates life so much?” Danny asked. “Not meaning to be rude or anything but most people would’ve just ended it.”

“Most people would’ve.” Sam agreed. “But we’re not most people. And neither is he. He keeps going because that’s what Rachel would’ve wanted him to do. He knows it. We know it. He help him as much as he can but he lost his Center, his everything, that day. Every day is a hard-fought battle to get through for him. And there’s only so much we can do to help him.”

“This is a sad place.” Chandra said softly. “But we’re going to make it happier. We’ll make new memories. We’ll live the lives Rachel wanted us to live.”

Sam nodded, almost absent-mindedly before sighing and shaking her head, her smile returned. “Alright then. Let’s make new memories.”

Sam, Stiles, and Chandra set to work picking up sticks and using them to draw in the dirt in front of the Nemeton. Lydia and Danny watched in amazement as a giant circle appeared. It was formed with runes and symbols flowing easily from one to the next in a way that in and of itself seemed like magic. When they were finished the three of them threw their sticks aside and stepped into the circle.

“You two be silent now.” Sam told Lydia and Danny. “I don’t need you exploding all over my trees.”

Both set of eyes watching them widened and both of them remained silent, watching intently.

Chandra and Sam stood across from each other. Stiles stood behind Sam, slightly to the right. All three of them had glowing sets of eyes as their magic rushed forward.

“Tonight we stand under the light of the moon to honor and respect my student.” Sam said, her voice resonating more than usual, making her sound powerful and not just look it. “Tonight we honor her as she completes her training and takes her final vows.”

“I take upon me the vows of the Druids and the traditions of our kind.” Chandra said in response. Her voice was like Sam’s filled with the power within her as it pushed its way out. “I honor and respect those you came before for they are far wiser than I will ever be. I ask for their guidance and their light in all things that I do.”

“May the light of the moon and the power of the sun fill you forever.” Stiles said in a calm, steady voice. His voice wasn’t as filled with power as the girls’ but it was clear that Stiles had plenty of power under his skin.

“Speak your vows sister.” Sam commanded.

Chandra nodded slowly before speaking in the same powerful voice. “I take into me the pPower of the Flame.” As she spoke flame’s erupted into being all around the circle, surrounding the mages within. “I take its soft side of light and warmth and will allow it to forever fill me with its warmth and guide my actions to always protect and care for the weakest among humans and shifters. I take into me the dark side of the flame in all its destructive power and burning existence and will allow it to forever remind me of the risk of casting my magic for it cannot be without something else being destroyed just as my spells cannot be without drawing from the energy within me. I vow to never raise my hand or my magic against the innocent. I will protect children from harm and guard my family with my life. I will never turn my back on those that I love and I will always forgive when forgiveness is due. I will always fight for what is right and do my best to keep this world in the light. But I accept that for there to be light there must be darkness to counter it. I accept that darkness will always exist and I shall spend my life in the Flame, guarding innocents from it. I take my vows by the light of the moon and may I keep them, until the day that I fall.”

Sam lifted her arms and held them towards Chandra, palms up. “I accept this oath and gift unto you the Power of the Flame. May you walk in the light forever more.”

“May you walk in the light.” Stiles repeated, lifting his arms to copy Sam’s pose.

The fire from all around the circle pulled upwards, leaving the ground in long strands that flew up to wind together before stretching down and wrapping around Chandra as she raised her arms to accept them. The threads all wrapped themselves around her. Her arms, her neck, her torso, her legs. The flaming threads twined around her as the runes on her arms started glowing as the fire traced over them, following their movements with ease. Soon the huge rope they were all coming from was gone, all of the fire turned into threads that had wound their way around Chandra.

“May the Flame guide you through your path in life and may you spread warmth and light wherever you tread.” Sam said, bowing slightly before straightening up and letting her arms fall to her side.

The flames that surrounded Chandra soaked into her, the runes on her arms vanishing as she absorbed them and their power. Her shirt really shimmered now as if fire was trapped inside it, which it kind of was. Her eyes glowed red as her body adjusted to the power flooding through it and then she turned her hands from the palms down place they’d been when the fire took her to being palms up as huge towers of flame shot towards the sky. Stiles’s eyes flashed white as fog created a tunnel above them, holding the fire inside it to stop it from burning any of the trees.

“You are a Flame now Chandra Mavana.” Chandra announced as the fire columns flickered away and Chandra looked back at her teacher and away from the sky above them. “You walk in the light now. And forever.”

Chandra grinned and there was a bright flash as the circle of runes around them vanished.

Sam let out an exhausted sigh, grinning at Chandra. “Good job girl.”

Chandra lunged forward and threw her arms around Sam, squeezing her tightly. She shot out and arm and pulled Stiles into the hug as well, just standing there and holding them tightly.

Stiles cleared his throat. “I’m sure Sam’s fine and all but I’m an air and water guy and I’m kinda boiling here.”

Chandra giggled and pulled away, blushing a bit. “Sorry Sti.”

Stiles sighed. “Yea yea I know you didn’t mean to do it.”

Chandra smiled, swaying a bit. “I feel a little dizzy.” She said.

Stiles stepped forward, steadying her immediately.

“Didn’t mean to do what?” Danny asked tentatively.

“Chandra’s core temperature’s somewhere around 120 degrees Fahrenheit.” Sam explained, letting Stiles tend to Chandra while keeping a very thin layer of fog between his skin and hers. “Like 49 Celsius I think.”

“Whoa.” Danny said.

“Yea I’m not effected cause I’ve mastered fire as well but Stiles is an air and water mage so that kind of heat is a bit uncomfortable.” Sam told them. She looked at Chandra. “No touching Zach till you’re cool again, okay? I don’t need to be putting burn salve on his sensitive areas.”

Stiles laughed at that and Chandra blushed some more.

“No touching. Got it.” Chandra said.

“That was amazing.” Lydia said, awe filling her voice. “Thank you for sharing it with us.”

“Sure.” Sam shrugged. “I mean we’re supposed to trust each other and all that shit now so I figured it’d be an easy way to see if my power has actually accepted you guys.”

“What would’ve happened if it hadn’t?” Danny asked.

Sam shrugged again. “You’d have just been burned probably. I don’t really know. Never had someone I didn’t trust enough be at a Mastering.”

“You alright?” Stiles asked Sam, looking at her now that Chandra was steady again.

Sam nodded. “Yea. For now. But we’d best get back. The adrenaline from that won’t last long.”

Stiles nodded, taking Sam by the arm and starting to lead her back towards the house.

“Is Sam okay?” Lydia whispered to Chandra, being careful not to get too close to the newly Mastered Druid.

Chandra nodded, smiling a little sadly. “Mastering someone takes a lot of power out of the teacher. Sam still hasn’t fully recovered from the power dump she used to defeat Eli and his army so Mastering me was a bit much. I tried to make her postpone it until May could come out and do it but she insisted it be her and it be tonight.”

“Will she recover?” Danny asked.

“Hopefully.” Chandra answered. “Sam was one of the most powerful Druids in the world, the most powerful mage for sure. Her power is a rare one. Not many Druids are given the gift of shape changing.”

“What’s your gift?” Lydia asked. “Wasn’t Mastering supposed to give it to you?”

“It did.” Chandra told her. “But we aren’t just given the knowledge of what it is. We have to find it ourselves.”

“Seems a bit more difficult.” Danny commented.

Chandra laughed. “Nothing we ever do is simple.”

“GUYS!” They heard Stiles shout from ahead of them.

All their eyes widened and they sprinted to catch up with the two ahead of them.

“What happened?” Chandra demanded, automatically taking Sam’s weight as Stiles shifted the girl towards her.

“My dad just texted.” Stiles said, eyes wide and voice labored. He’d used air to blast his voice through the forest, summoning the wolves to their sides as well.

That moment was when the wolves reached them. Chandra found Sam being pulled from her by Joe and found her hearing filled with whining as Zach felt the heat she was giving off still. She concentrated for a moment, drawing all the heat in to her center before Zach was on her, all his instincts screaming at him to make sure she was alright and her instincts screaming to do the same with him. Lydia was in Jackson’s arms, the pair of them holding each other tightly as Lydia assured Jackson she wasn’t hurt. Danny had been grabbed by most of the rest of the pack, all of them wanting to make sure the human was okay as while he was human he was still pack and they had to protect him.

Derek wasn’t by Danny though. Instead he had gone straight for Stiles every cell in his body screaming to get as much physical contact with Stiles as he possible could. He’d heard Stiles’s scream and it had been like scalding water and ice water poured over him at the same time, fear and dread filling him from the fear in Stiles’s voice. He’d almost lost Stiles once due to something he couldn’t stop and he wasn’t about to let something he could stop take the mage away from him now.

Soon they all calmed down, though they were still clinging to each other for reassurance, and all turned to Stiles.

“What happened?” Derek demanded, looking at his mate.

“My dad texted.” Stiles said, looking around at them. “They found another body. Well, bodies.”


	10. What do we got?

The coven pulled up in the truck, the pack all sitting in the bed of it. They were at a warehouse in the pits of town.

“So is this an abandoned warehouse like the usual death places are?” Scott asked as the pack jumped out of the bed and the coven plus Derek got out of the cab, Derek still didn’t like being too far from Stiles.

“No.” Stiles told him. “It’s a storage place for some company here in town.”

“Well better than usual then.” Isaac said, smiling a bit.

“Where’s your dad?” Sam asked, breathing heavy. She was leaning heavily on Joe, who had to drive them all over because Sam couldn’t and wouldn’t let anyone else drive her baby.

“Inside.” Stiles said, taking stock of Sam’s condition and quickly hiding his worry as he hurried towards the doors.

They all filed inside and followed Stiles to the center of the warehouse where there was a large open space and the Sheriff standing in the middle.

“They took the bodies but I figured maybe you guys could track the scent of something.” The Sheriff said, walking towards them.

“Scott, Isaac.” Derek said, looking at his betas.

They nodded and darted off to see if they could track the creatures.

“What do we got dad?” Stiles asked.

“Three bodies.” John told them. “All male from what we can guess. All looking like the last one.”

“Security tapes?” Zach asked, looking a little hopeful.

“We’re working on getting them but we aren’t sure how much help that’s going to be. The cameras are old models.”

“So we’ve got nothing.” Jackson groaned.

“We’ve got more bodies.” Stiles said. “Maybe there’s a pattern in who they pick.”

“All dudes.” Erica suggested.

“If they’re our age again that’s another pattern.” Lydia observed.

“Strength of life.” Sam muttered, sagging even more against Joe.

“What?” Chandra asked. “What does that mean?”

“She’s out.” Joe told them, scooping her up into his arms. And she was. She’d passed out.

“Is she okay?” John asked, looking worried.

“She Mastered Chandra.” Stiles explained. “She’ll be fine once she gets some rest. And some food.”

As if on cue everyone heard quite a few stomachs growl, making everyone chuckle.

“We should get back.” Derek said. “Scott. Isaac. Anything?”

The two wolves popped back up, shaking their heads.

“It’s all mixed in everywhere.” Scott said.

“And all the fucking candles get in the way.” Isaac muttered.

“So that’s what this place stores.” Stiles mused. “Good to know.”

“We should go.” Boyd suggested.

“I agree.” Derek said. “We need to eat again and Sam needs to sleep for a while.” He looked at John. “Sheriff if you find anything to help us can you let me know? I’ll probably be at coven house tomorrow.”

“We have school tomorrow.” Danny reminded them all.

“Not going.” Joe announced. “Neither is Sam. The rest of you need to go. Keep up a normal image.”

“That goes for you all as well.” Derek told his pack. “We need to make sure they don’t suspect anything.”

“We came to the crime scene.” Jackson argued. “I think they’ll have figured it out. I don’t need to go to school. I need to stay by you guys and help you figure this out.”

“No.” Derek told him. “You will go to school tomorrow. We all made a deal that you would all go to school whenever you weren’t badly injured or unconscious. And I’m holding you all to that deal. You guys are applying for colleges now. You can’t be missing days just because something’s trying to kill us all.”

Jackson scowled but didn’t argue back.

“Well now that that’s settled can we go?” Zach asked. “I’m starving.”

Everyone else smiled at that, the tension that had been seeping into them all vanishing again as they laughed at Zach.

~~

Everyone gathered back at the coven house, scattered around the living room and chowing down on the rest of the food.

“We need a plan.” Lydia declared.

“Why?” Stiles asked. “All our plans go to shit anyways.”

“We need _something_.” Lydia answered.

“I’ll talk to Sam tomorrow when she’s awake again.” Derek promised the red-head.

“We need to talk now.” Lydia insisted. “These things are getting more bold. The first one was a boy running through the forest. Where no one else was around. These three bodies were in the center of town in a warehouse surrounded by homes. Screams would’ve been heard. They’re getting bolder.”

“I have to agree with Lydia on that.” Stiles conceded. “There’s no telling what these things are willing to risk. And that makes them a lot more dangerous.”

“There’s no telling how far they’d go.” Danny added. “They could end up revealing our secrets.”

“We can’t let that happen.” Scott said.

“How are we supposed to stop them?” Jackson asked. “They take every bit of life out of someone. All we have is more strength and better senses. How are we supposed to compete with that?”

“That’s not all we have.” Chandra said. “We have magic.”

“And potentially your new gift.” Zach added.

Chandra nodded. “I need to get to work on finding that out.”

“What help could it be?” Erica asked, curious.

“Anything.” Chandra answered. “It will most likely have something to do with fire as that’s what I Mastered.”

“It could mean the difference between failing and succeeding.” Joe added.

Chandra nodded. “That too.”

“So what are we supposed to do then?” Isaac asked.

“I don’t know.” Derek told him. “I really don’t know.”

“We’ll get through it.” Joe said firmly. “I know we will. We’ve gone through worse before.”

“That was with May and the rest of the pack.” Zach said. “We’re here and they’re not. We can’t call them here again. We’re alone this time.”

“We’ll get through it.” Joe repeated. “Together.”

Zach sighed but nodded.

“I wish Allison and Seth were here.” Chandra said softly.

“Two more weeks.” Stiles told her gently. They were all missing their last two members. “Two more weeks and we’ll all be together again. We can manage that.”

“We’ll have to work together.” Scott said.

“We can do that.” Derek said.

“Wolves should run patrols.” Lydia said. “Try and find the source of the flowery scent.”

“We should look deeper into those books.” Stiles said. “Try and find out what they are.”

“I’ll see about strengthening the wards here, at the Pack house, and around the school.” Chandra volunteered. “With my new power I might be able to help more than I could before.”

“I suppose I can try and remember more details about them.” Joseph volunteered tentatively. “I might be able to find something that can help.”

“Don’t sink too far in.” Zach warned him. “Sam will die if she loses you in the past.”

Joe nodded. “I know.”

“Sounds like we have a plan then.” Lydia said. “Sort of.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t go to shit.” Stiles muttered.

Everyone seemed to silently agree but no one said anything. They were all silent for a moment before Lydia broke it to start talking to Chandra about the Mastering ceremony and what everything means. Stiles and Danny joined their conversation and the others all started their own, everyone relaxing just a bit despite the threat looming over them.

 

Soon the pack left, going back to their homes and families, and the coven was left all curled up in the living room. Stiles was curled into Derek’s side, fast asleep, almost as exhausted from the Mastering as Chandra, who’d passed out with Zach as soon as the power rush from her newly discovered power faded away. It was only Joe and Derek awake now, both of them too tense to sleep yet.

“Derek.” Joe said, breaking the long, comfortable silence the two of them had fallen into.

“Yea?” Derek responded, looking up from Stiles’s face.

“If they do find security tapes, I don’t want to look at them. And I don’t want Sam looking either.”

“I’ll see if they look like what you described.” Derek told him.

Joe smiled, sagging in relief. “Thank you.”

Derek nodded, pulling a sleeping Stiles tighter against his side. “I’d ask the same thing for Stiles and I if I was in your position.”

“I’m worried about this.” Joe admitted quietly. “I don’t know if we’re strong enough to beat these things.”

“We are.” Derek said firmly. “We have each other and that makes us strong.”

“But does it make us strong enough?”

“I suppose that’s something we won’t know until the time comes.”

Joe sighed. “Hopefully it does. I’d rather not die.”

Derek smiled slightly. “I have to agree with you there.”


	11. Video

The next day found Derek on the front step of the coven house after getting a text from Joe telling him that the Sheriff had found something and he wanted Derek there to hear it.

He walked into the living room to find Joe and Sam sat together on the wide chair couch that was quickly becoming their spot. Joe was sat against the arm with Sam leaning on him. She was awake and her eyes were bright, even if they did look a little tired as she smiled at Derek.

“Derek.” The Sheriff said, nodding at him.

“Sheriff.” Derek nodded back before sitting down. He looked at Sam. “You okay?”

Sam nodded. “Just a bit tired still. I’ll be fine soon enough.”

Derek nodded and then turned to the Sheriff. “What’d you find?”

“The security film was actually pretty good and, well, I had to convince people it must be messed out because of what was on it.”

“Let me see then.” Derek said, holding out his hand.

John passed the tablet he was holding to him and Derek watched the clip. Derek’s eyes widened as he watched and his jaw dropped open a bit.

“What is it?” Sam asked when Derek looked up at them.

“You need to watch it.” Derek said softly.

“Derek.” Joe said.

“I know I said I’d watch it first.” Derek said. “But you two need to see this. Now.” Derek walked over and handed it to them. “And then we need to get everyone here right after school.”

Joe took the tablet, looking scared at Derek’s reaction to whatever was on the video.

“What did you tell the other cops?” Derek asked John.

“That it was obviously taped over. The two recordings, or possibly more, combined together to make it appear like that.” John told him.

“Good.” Derek said. “That’s a solid story.”

“Oh my god.” Sam gasped as they watched the video. Derek turned back to them.

“Is that what I think it is?” Joe asked.

Derek nodded.  “I think so.”

“Oh my god.” Sam said again, sitting up. She only swayed a little as she sat up straight, staring at Derek with wide, terror-filled eyes. “That’s what they’re doing.”

Derek nodded. “Think that’s enough for our geniuses?”

“Definitely.” Sam nodded.

~

“What’s the emergency?” Stiles demanded when he burst through the front door.

“In here.” Derek called.

Stiles ran straight towards the living room, the rest of the coven and pack just now reaching the house and rushing after him.

“What’s the emergency?” He repeated at the doorway, his eyes flying over each of them in turn to check for injuries.

“No emergency.” Sam said from the couch. “But something bad. Very bad.”

“What happened?” Chandra asked, her and Zach automatically going over to Sam. They sat on the ground in front of their couch, needing to be near their leader to protect her when she’s so weak.

“You need to watch this.” Joe said, holding the tablet he was still holding out.

Stiles strode forward and grabbed it, sitting down next to Chandra so all three of them could watch it at once.

While they watched the clip, Sam looked over at the pack and smiled. “You guys can come in, you know. Don’t loom in the doorway.”

The all came in slowly and sat down around the room.

“Oh my god.” Stiles and Zach said at the same time when the clip was over.

“That was awful.” Chandra muttered.

“Let me see.” Lydia demanded.

Stiles got up on shaky legs and walked over to her. She, Danny, and Jackson all watched it together, leaving them in the same state of shock the others were in. The tablet was passed around the room, everyone getting to watch it and then remaining perfectly silent after seeing it.

“Can you find anything from that?” Sam asked in the silence, looking at Lydia.

She nodded, taking the tablet from Jackson and watching it again. Her eyes stayed wide open as she watched it again. She watched as three giggling woman pulled three young teenage boys into the center of the warehouse before turning and kissing them. As they kissed, the girls changed. Tails sprouted and Lydia could see ears on the tops of their heads, laid back as a fox’s would be. They pulled away from the boy they were holding and the boys all went from excited and smiling to terrified and getting ready to scream. The camera didn’t show any of their faces but whatever they looked like made those boys scared. Lydia watched as each girl thrust her hands forward, into their chest. Waves of what looked like energy or power pulled away from the boys, spinning around and up the girls’ arms before being sucked into the open mouths of the girls. The boys’ bodies shrank, shriveling up to the state they were found in before the girls pulled their hands out. They let the bodies fall to the floor but didn’t move away from them. Instead they seemed to open their mouths and exhale all the energy they’d just taken back on to the shriveled bodies. The energy didn’t soak into them though. It spun around and around, getting bigger and darker and it started gaining a shape. Lydia felt just as shocked the second time as she had the first time as the energy formed itself into another fox-like human, this time male. All three girls kissed the males they’d just created and then together the six of them raced off screen. And the clip ended.

“What do you think?” Joe asked.

“It definitely seems familiar.” Danny said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find something.”

Lydia nodded in agreement. “I remember their being a few species that kill in order to create more of them.”

“Then find out.” Derek said. “In the meantime, we have a better idea of what we’re up against.”

“Sam what did you mean last night?” Erica asked.

“When?” Sam asked, looking at her.

“You said something about strength of life before you passed out. What’d you mean?”

Sam smiled faintly. “I don’t remember saying that.”

“You did.” Boyd assured her.

She nodded. “Yea I believe you.”

“What’s it mean?” Jackson asked.

“The essence of life.” Sam said. “It’s sometimes referred to as the strength of life. Young, healthy people have the most. And typically young, healthy males.”

“They’re using the power from these kids to create more of their kind?” John asked.

“I don’t think they’re creating.” Sam said. “Those girls acted like they knew the people they brought. That wouldn’t happen if they’d just been created.”

“Could they be freeing them from something?” Derek asked. “Using these people for the power to do so?”

“That could be.” Sam shrugged.

“Well that narrows our searching down quite a bit.” Danny commented.

“Can you look it up tonight?” Joe asked.

The three geniuses nodded.

“We need to go back to our house though.” Lydia said. “All the books and stuff are there.”

“Then go.” Sam said. “The rest of us will be over shortly. We need a plan.”

Lydia, Danny, and Stiles all nodded, quickly getting up, gathering their things, and leaving.

“Are they safe?” Jackson asked, looking a little worried.

“Stiles knows how to defend himself.” Sam answered. “They’ll be fine. In the meantime, we need to figure out how to protect the people of this town.”

 

Two hours later everyone climbed back into their cars and drove over to the Pack House. There wasn’t much talking in any of the cars. Everyone was very somber after the discussion they’d just had. When they got there they found Stiles, Lydia, and Danny sitting on the steps of the porch, waiting for them.

“We found it.” Lydia announced as they got out of the cars. “But you aren’t going to like it.”


	12. Kumihos

Everyone went inside and took their seats wherever they could. There were large, ancient looking books and papers everywhere and no one was about to disturb any of it and risk getting yelled at for it.

“What’d you find then?” John asked as they all got situated.

“It isn’t good.” Danny said. “It really isn’t good.”

“What are they?” Derek demanded.

“They’re called Kumihos.” Stiles said. “And they aren’t good. At all.”

“They’re name means nine-tailed fox.” Lydia told them. “When they’re born, they only have one. As they grow and mature and gain power, they grow more tails. Nine-tailed ones are the oldest and most powerful of all of them.”

“They’re shapeshifters.” Danny continued. “Sort of like us. But not as good. They’re true forms are sort of like beta forms for wolves. They’re tails appear, their ears move to the tops of their heads like foxes have, their faces elongate slightly into something sort of like a muzzle.” At this point he pointed to a book Lydia was holding up and open for everyone to see. On the page was a detailed drawing of a shifted Kumiho. It’s mouth was open, revealing sharp teeth, and it looked to be snarling at the viewer. “When they shift their eyes also glow.” Danny added. “They have redish eyes, like the fur of a fox.”

“In human form they look only mostly human.” Stiles started. “They can’t blend in as well as us because there’s still something about them that puts humans on edge. They retain some sort of fox-like manner or appearance. It marks them as different. So they tend to stay away from humans as much as they can.”

“They’re originally from Japan.” Lydia started again, holding the book closed in her lap now. “When humans started migrating around the world, so did they. Most of them ended up here, in America. It was huge land and plenty of people to feed them.”

“They feed on life energy.” Danny said. “Sam was right about that. They don’t typically kill though. Just make them weak and vulnerable. Wolf packs flourished off the leftovers of kumihos in old times.”

“Until the Druids of the country combined their powers together and locked them up.” Lydia said.

“The Druids saw that the kumihos had no common sense about keeping the supernatural world a secret from the humans.” Stiles said. “So they and the hunters of the country herded all the kumihos together and locked them away in a parallel dimension so they could never kill again.”

“Except apparently they didn’t get them all.” Erica said.

“Exactly.” Stiles said. “It’s said that three kumihos were not there that night. And ever since they’ve been trying to retrieve the lost ones in order to take their revenge on the humans.”

“So we pissed off one of the strongest species in the world.” Jackson said. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yup.” Stiles said.

“They saw it as an act of war.” Lydia said. “Trapping all of their kind to keep the humans safe was not a good enough reason for them. So they began to search for ways to release their kin.”

“And they found one.” Chandra said. It wasn’t a question.

Lydia nodded. “They found one.”

“It’s exactly what we thought.” Danny said. “They figured out that they can use the life energy of young, healthy male humans to release their kin one at a time. We also think that their attack on Harmony was their way of releasing even more in the chaos.”

“How do we know all this?” Boyd asked.

“Hunters.” Stiles said. “They worked with the Druids to gather all the kumihos and wrote accounts of it. And they’ve kept track of them since. Someone managed to figure out how many they’d missed from the killings that matched the way a kumiho kills and after that someone was always keeping tabs on them. And about fifty years ago someone noted a rise in killings. As far as we can tell, that’s when they started releasing their kin.”

“How long do these things live?” Zach asked, looking a little shocked.

“Around a millennium.” Lydia answered. “From what we can tell.”

“This is good.” Sam said. “Can we kill them?”

“If their tails are cut off, they become human.” Danny said. “And then, yes. You can kill them.”

“We have a plan then.” Scott said. “We can get rid of them.”

“We still can’t find them.” Joe reminded them.

“Why are they here in the first place?” Isaac asked.

“We created a Nemeton.” Sam said. “Well, James did. The creation of something that powerful, draws things towards us. I’d bet anything they were looking for a power source large enough to bring everyone back at once instead of continuing to go one by one.”

“You said it was like throwing up a challenge.” Derek said softly.

Sam nodded. “It is. And they’ve accepted it. We’re at war.”

“What do we do?” Chandra asked in a small voice in the silence that followed Sam’s declaration.

“We fight back.” Derek said. “As best as we can.”

“How?” Zach asked.

“We have wards around the school and the houses, right Chan?” Stiles asked, looking at her.

She nodded. “They’re filled with light as well so something this dark shouldn’t be able to get through.”

“Good.” Sam said. “Keep power to them at all times.”

“What about the rest of town?” Jackson asked.

“We’re going to have to move the patrols from the forest to town.” Derek said. “And none of us goes anywhere alone.”

“How do we get the tails off?” Erica asked. “If they’re only out when they’re shifted how do we take them off?”

“When they attack, they shift.” Lydia said. “We saw that on the clip.”

“So we have to make one of the most dangerous species in the world mad enough to attack us in order to kill it?” Isaac clarified.

“Yup.” Stiles said.

“Pretty much.” Danny added.

“We’re fucked.” Boyd announced.

“I second that.” Zach said.

“We’re in deep shit.” Stiles said, looking around the room. “But we can do it. I know we can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! We finally know what's in the town!


	13. Tree Jumping

“Can we go tree jumping?” Stiles asked when he walked into the living room on Saturday morning. Sam was curled against Joe on the couch, watching TV, while Zach and Chandra were out for the day and taking their minds off of things.

“Tree jumping?” Sam asked, sitting up to look at him. “Are you sure?”

“Definitely.” Stiles said, looking completely sure. “I need out of this house and I need to _move_.”

Sam smiled. “Let’s make it more interesting.” She said. “Let’s make it hunt style.”

 

An hour later the three of them were standing at the edge of the forest with Derek, Scott, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.

“What are we doing?” Boyd asked.

“Tree jumping.” Sam told him. “Well, Stiles and I are tree jumping.”

“What’s that?” Isaac asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like.” Stiles told him, looking excited. “We jump from tree to tree, never touching the ground. It’s a lot of fun. Especially with magic to help move you.”

“And what are we here for then?” Erica asked. “We can’t jump through the trees.”

“No but you can track us.” Sam said. “That’s what makes it fun.”

“What do you mean?” Scott asked.

“I’m talking about hunting.” Sam said. “Stiles and I verses you guys.”

“And who’s the winner?” Boyd asked.

“If we reach the lake in the forest, we win.” Stiles said. “If you guys catch us, you win.”

“And the winners get?” Erica asked, looking interested.

“Nothing.” Sam said. “But it’s more of a pride thing. You really want to know you got outrun by a couple of mages?”

The wolves growled at the challenge, getting excited. Sam and Stiles grinned.

“Awesome.” Stiles said. “See you later bitches.”

Both of them swung away, launching themselves into the trees and then they were gone.

“After them.” Derek growled. “But don’t injure.”

The wolves took off after the mages, shifting easily and growling as they raced across the forest floor.

Joe and Derek were at the front, leading together and allowing the alpha power of their wolves and their connections to the people they were tracking to better their sense of smell and aid in their tracking. Scott and Isaac were behind them, spread out to cover the ground next to the ground they covered. Erica and Boyd were behind them, covering ever more ground. They needed to know if the scents turned anywhere. And all six of them were grinning. It had been a while since any of them had been able to just use their tracking abilities for fun. They’ve been concentrating so heavily on trying to track the kumihos in town they haven’t just tracked each other for fun in ages.

Up in the trees Sam and Stiles were grinning just as wide. The last time they’d tree jumped was in November before the cold really set in and it was much different jumping in January than in November. The trees were covered with thin frost in some places and in others they had to avoid trees with no leaves so the wolves couldn’t see them. They’d both dressed warmly in thick pants and sweatshirts. The wolves wouldn’t get cold as easily due to their better heating system but neither of them really wanted to get sick now so they were trying not to get hypothermia. They’re eyes were glowing bright and their power was visible in trails they left behind as they launched themselves from tree to tree, laughing and grinning. They made sure to block the sounds of their laughs from reaching the wolves below.

After a while they stopped, parked near the top of a huge oak tree and clinging to the branches.

“This is amazing!” Stiles crowed, looking around. You could see the forest all the way from their destination lake all the way back to town.

“At home you can see for miles from one of the trees.” Sam said, grinning. “Amelia once claimed she saw clear through to Lacrosse but none of us could confirm or deny it as she’s got the best eyesight among us all.”

Stiles laughed. “Think they’ll realize we sent them the wrong way?”

“Eventually.” Sam grinned. “But we’ve got time.”

“I’m glad we can do this.” Stiles said.

“Tree jump?”

“Be free.” Stiles corrected. “It’s…amazing.”

Sam laughed. “It’s certainly something. This used to be my go to thing you know. For getting rid of thoughts and feelings and everything that wasn’t where to grab the next tree and how to swing my body to just keep moving forward because if I looked back I knew I was going to fall.”

“Like now?” Stiles asked.

Sam sighed. “Like now.”

“We’re going to find them.” Stiles said firmly. “And we’re going to kill them. Because I’m sick and tired of things attacking my town and putting my family and my friends in danger.”

Sam smiled. “You sound so much like Laura when you talk like that.”

“Laura?” Stiles asked. “Derek’s sister?”

“She came to the Ranch once, not long after the fire.” Sam told him. “We talked for hours. As much as two people who don’t have much left can talk I guess. She really liked the idea of tracking down the people who took her family away from her and hurt her little brother and killing them in whatever painful way she could. You and her would’ve gotten along famously I think.”

Stiles grinned. “Derek says the same thing. Says we’d make his life a living hell if we were friends.”

“He’s probably right.” Sam laughed. “But between you and me I think he’d love that you two got along. Laura meant to a lot to him. And he meant a lot to her.”

Stiles nodded. “I’m glad someone talked to her about it all. From what Derek’s told me they didn’t have much other than each other for a long time after that fire.”

Sam nodded and was about to speak when a voice cut into their minds.

_Are you two going to blast me if I join you?_

“Chandra!” They both exclaimed.

They heard her laughs as she scrambled up the tree and perched herself near them. “What’s up sibs?”

Sam snorted and Stiles rolled his eyes. “Don’t.” He said. “Just don’t.”

Chandra grinned. “You got them wolves good and lost.”

“How far they’d go?” Sam asked, curious.

“Nearly out of the county.” Chandra told them. “Only stopped when they felt themselves leaving their territory. Good distraction spells.”

“All Stiles on that one.” Sam said, raising her hands as if to absolve herself of the blame of it. “His idea too.”

Stiles grinned proudly. “I’m getting better at manipulating both air and water to get what I want.”

“You definitely are.” Chandra agreed.

“Why are you here?” Sam asked. “I thought you and Zach wanted a day to yourselves.”

“We did.” Chandra said. “But neither of us liked being so far from everyone with these kumihos around. And then Joe texted that you were tree jump hunting to the lake and we figured we’d come back a bit early and lend a hand. I led Zach to them and then masked pretty well to come join up with you guys.”

“Well you’re always welcome here.” Sam said grinning.

“Why thank you ma’am.” Chandra said with a fake Southern accent.

Sam and Stiles laughed at that and Stiles nearly fell off his branch before catching himself.

“Alright I think we should get moving again before Stiles falls to his death.” Chandra suggested.

“I second that motion.” Sam agreed. “Move out troops! There ain’t no way we’re getting caught today!”

~

Across town Lydia, Jackson, and Danny were at the mall.

“Why are we here again?” Jackson whined.

“Because I need new shoes to go with the purple dress I’m wearing on Friday for Allison and Seth’s coming home party.” Lydia reminded him, not the least bit annoyed by his whine. She’s used to her boyfriend’s more annoying qualities by now.

“I think you should go with low heels on this one.” Danny advised, just ignoring Jackson. “With the way the state of town is you never know if you’ll need to run in them.”

“Oh sweetie I can run in six inches if I need to.” Lydia said sweetly. “But you may be right. A bit shorter than usual may be best. But I am not going down below three that would ruin my reputation.”

Danny smiled. “And we can’t have that, now can we?”

Lydia grinned. “This is why you come along.”

“And why do I come along?” Jackson asked, seeming completely annoyed with every aspect of his life right then.

“Because neither of us are wolves and Derek and Sam want a wolf with us at all times.” Danny said. “And because you provide in shop entertainment.”

Jackson glared at his best friend but it was over a badly hidden smile. He’s never been able to stay mad at Danny. Danny knew that and just grinned for a couple of seconds before Jackson cracked and sighed.

“I hate both of you.” He declared.

“No you don’t.” They said together.

“And I hate that too.” Jackson muttered, dropping down onto a bench to watch and listen to them as they combed through the shoe section, trying to find the perfect pair.

~

Sam swung out from the branches, flipping over in the air a few times before shrinking rapidly and turning into a bird that soared up into the sky. Stiles and Chandra were right behind her but they landed down softly on the beach instead of shifting. They landed easily, using magic to lighten the landing, and then laughed, looking up at the sky.

“That is totally showing off!” Stiles shouted up at her.

“She always loves doing that.” Chandra said, grinning wide.

The huge eagle she’d become swooped down and she shifted back easily coming to a stop on the sand with a grin on her face. “It may make me a show-off but you have got to admit it’s cool.”

“Always will be.” Chandra told her.

Sam grinned. “Come on. Let’s see if we can get this beach set up for a picnic.”

“Picnic?” Stiles asked.

“I texted Lydia.” Sam explained. “Her, Jackson, and Danny are bringing a picnic out for us to all eat together.

“Fooooooooooooooooooood!” Chandra moaned happily.

“Jesus Christ you’d think we don’t feed you!” Sam cried.

“Shut up!” Chandra exclaimed. “I’m fucking hungry!”

“I thought you were fucking Zach?” Stiles asked.

Chandra glared at him.

“Run.” Sam advised.

“Running.” Stiles said, taking off down the beach and out onto the water. He was using magic to walk on the water while Chandra stayed on the beach glowering.

“Keep moving idiot.” Sam called. “Once she figures out how she can do it too you’re dead.”

Stiles’s eyes widened and he started running again. Because as soon as Sam said it, Chandra figured it out and she took off onto the water after him.

“Is she going to kill him?”

Sam turned around and saw Derek and Joe step from the woods.

“Nah.” Sam said, after accepting a kiss from Joseph. “Well probably not. It’s more about running off excess energy than anything right now. She’s into a lot of new power and it takes more than a week to figure it out.”

“I heard something about food.” Erica declared, walking from the woods.

“Lydia’s bringing it.” Sam told her.

“Fuck yes.” Erica moaned, flopping onto the sand.

“What is it with powerful girls and needing food all the time?” Isaac asked as him and Scott came out of the woods.

“We likes our foods.” Sam told him.

“All girls get hungry.” Joe said. “It’s just that the girls in our lives have the ability to tear us to shreds when we don’t get them food fast enough so we notice more. That’s the only difference.”

“Hi babe!” Stiles shouted as he raced by, Chandra hot on his heels. And hot being literal as she was streaming fire behind her. But both of them were smiling so Sam wasn’t too concerned.

“He’s insane.” Derek sighed.

The others chuckled.

“You’re an idiot for not seeing that before you fell in love with the insane boy.” Sam said. “If you wanted sane you should’ve stayed away from this place. The craziest town on Earth.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “You’re a smart ass.”

Sam shrugged. “I try.”

“There’s someone coming.” Joe said softly.

They all turned towards the trees, bodies tense and ready to fend off a threat.

Lydia and Danny stepped out, grinning.

“We come in peace.” Danny smirked over the basket he was carrying.

“And we come bearing food so you should all be kissing our goddamn feet.” Jackson muttered as he followed Lydia and Danny out of the forest. He was carrying four more baskets in his hands and another was strapped to his back. “I hate you both.”

“Well did you expect me to carry things with my new manicure?” Lydia said, smiling sweetly at her boyfriend.

Jackson didn’t answer and he also didn’t glare. He knew better than to glare.

“Someone catch those two.” Sam said, glancing at her students.

Derek and Zach both stepped forward, catching and picking up their mates as they ran by.

“Put me down!” Chandra shouted. “I’m gonna smack him silly!”

“Don’t let her down!” Stiles exclaimed, clinging to Derek.

“Both of you calm down.” Sam ordered. “There’s food and if you plan to eat, eat fast there’s wolves on the prowl.”

Isaac howled a bit and everyone laughed.

“Truce?” Stiles asked Chandra.

“Truce.” Chandra agreed.

They clambered down from their mates and went running for the food.

“Don’t kill each other!” Derek called after them.

“I’m more worried about them clobbering each other.” Sam said. “Too much urgency to kill.”

Derek laughed. “You may be right about that.”

Sam and Derek stood there together for a moment, watching their groups fight over the food.

“They’re getting better.” Sam commented.

“Who and at what?” Derek asked.

“Mine and eating fast.”

Derek grinned. “In a family of wolves, you eat fast or you don’t eat.”

“In a family of mages you leave some for everyone or you get your ass roasted.”

Derek grinned.

“We’re not that bad.” Stiles called over. They’d all fallen away from the picnic baskets now, sprawled out on the beach with their plates.

Derek rolled his eyes, walking over to sit down by Stiles. “Yes you are.”

Stiles shrugged, leaning back into him as Derek sat behind him. “I don’t think we’re that ravenous.”

“Stiles you hit Zach with a pan because he took your curly fries.” Scott reminded him.

“Shut up!” Stiles hissed at him, but he was hiding a smile. “Besides he totally deserved it.”

“Did not!” Zach protested.

“Did to!”

“Did not!”

“Did to! You stole my curly fries!”

“Curly fries require a pan to the face?” Jackson asked.

“Duh!” Stiles said. “Curly fries are like life! In fried form!”

Everyone around burst out laughing.

“You know it’s true!” Stiles protested.

“I have to agree with him there.” Isaac raised his hand. “They be damn good.”

“You’re all hopeless.” Chandra muttered.

“We’re idiots.” Stiles corrected. “But there is hope for us.”

“Yea I mean we all managed to pull together.” Danny said. “We can’t be that bad if you guys trust us.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What?”

“That was impressive.” Joe told him. “You actually managed to make them sound really impressive.”

“Or us insanely stupid.” Chandra added.

“Let’s go with the first one.” Zach said.

Everyone laughed.

“Can I ask something I’ve been wondering about?” Lydia asked, looking between Sam and Chandra.

“Shoot.” Chandra declared.

“When Sam Mastered you, she called you Chandra Mavana, why? You’re name’s Chandra Mansa, why’d she call you Mavana?”

Chandra looked at Sam. “You wanna answer?”

“Nah you go for it.” Sam responded, waving around a chicken leg.

Chandra looked back at Lydia. “It’s a Druid thing. When we Master we get to take a new name. Most of us keep the same first name because it’s hard to switch to a new first name but we get to change our last names if we want.”

“I changed mine from Jancal to Bledig.” Sam cut in. “I wanted to escape my past.”

“What does Bledig mean?” Erica asked.

“Like a wolf.” Sam told her with a smile. “I thought it was fitting seeing as I’m mated to one. And after I Mastered I turned out to be able to turn into one which is ironic but nice.”

“And I chose Mavana.” Chandra said. “And once I’m eighteen I’ll be legally changing it from Mansa to Mavana.”

“Why?” Isaac asked. “What does it mean?”

“It’s a word in an old Druid language that is a name for the light cast by a fire when all around it is dark. I thought with everything we have going on right now, we could use a little light in the dark.”

“That’s awesome.” Danny commented.

“Really pretty.” Lydia agreed.

Chandra grinned. “Zach gets some credit. I was bouncing names off him for months. He put up with a lot.”

“I’m just thankful it’s over.” Zach sighed, rolling his eyes. Chandra punched him lightly.

Everyone grinned and/or chuckled at them and as Stiles was looking around, he felt at peace. Even with the life-sucking fox monsters on the prowl and possibly trying to unleash an entire army of themselves on the world and eliminate humanity, Stiles felt safe. Because his family was whole. He no longer had to make a choice between his old friends and his new family. They were all his family. And he knew they were all going to make it out of this. They had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear from you guys!


	14. Scare them away

Stiles came out of his history class on Tuesday to find Boyd and Sam waiting for him.

“An escort?” He asked as they fell in step beside him.

“Protection.” Boyd told him quietly. “Chandra said she feels something attacking the ward around the school.”

“Now?” Stiles asked.

“Now.” Sam confirmed. “We’re eating lunch outside.”

“It’s cold!” Stiles protested.

“Chandra’s creating a heat bubble.” Sam assured him. “You won’t freeze.”

“Won’t it look strange?”

“We’ve gone past the ‘maintaining cover’ part of this now.” Boyd said.

Stiles sighed. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

The three of them hurried to get their lunches and then went outside to sit down with the others. Stiles practically moaned when he walked into the invisible bubble of heat Chandra had going in the chill air.

“Isn’t it like misting in the cold air or something?” Stiles asked, looking between it and Chandra.

She shook her head. “It’s a contained bubble. I control it all so the cold and warm air doesn’t mix too fast and that way it doesn’t make the mist like our breaths do.”

“Awesome.” Danny commented.

Chandra smiled proudly. “Thank you.”

“Why aren’t you doing it?” Jackson asked, looking at Sam.

“What do you mean?” The girl asked after pecking Joseph on the cheek in greeting.

“Well Scott said that you were one of the strongest Druids in the world. Why can’t you do it?”

“Chandra needs the release.” Sam explained. “She’s so new to being Mastered that the build-up of energy would spill out of her in violent ways if not released slowly in conductive ways.”

“So why are we out here?” Lydia asked.

“I can feel someone trying to get through the ward around the school.” Chandra told her.

“Like kumiho someones?” Scott asked.

“Or someone vastly similar and just as dark.” Chandra told him.

“It better be the kumihos or else we’ve got an even bigger problem on our hands.” Derek said, walking up.

“Hey babe.” Stiles said, leaning up to accept a hello kiss from Derek before the wolf sat down. “Why are you here?”

“Sam texted me.” Derek answered. “Said the kumihos were trying to get in. Figured I should be here.”

“How do we stop them?” Isaac asked.

“The ward should hold them.” Chandra said. “I’m pumping power into it. But it’ll only keep people safe while school is in session. Once it’s out everyone’s going to leave and they’ll be completely unprotected.”

“We need to scare them off.” Danny said, thinking hard. “So the kids can’t be followed and attacked then.”

“I have a feeling no matter what we do, my dad’s going to find bodies.” Stiles muttered.

“I’m the banshee Stiles.” Lydia said. “I’m the one who predicts deaths.”

“And you don’t feel anything?” Stiles asked her.

She sighed. “No I feel it too.”

“Exactly.” Stiles said.

“So what do we do?” Erica asked.

“I wish Peter was here.” Sam muttered.

“Where is my uncle anyways?” Derek asked.

“You don’t know?” Chandra asked.

Derek shrugged. “My uncle’s never liked staying one place for too long without taking a trip.”

“Montana.” Sam said softly but clearly. “He left at New Years’.”

“Why’d he tell you and not Derek?” Jackson asked, looking confused. In fact the whole pack looked confused.

“I was the one who sent him there.” Sam answered. “I have a friend there, someone who used to live at the Ranch but moved out. We stayed in touch. She’s helping Peter access the deep nooks and crannies of his power.”

“Why?” Lydia asked. She still doesn’t completely trust Peter, but really who could blame her?

“It’ll help ease the pain of losing Olivia, his wife.” Joe explained, taking over for the explanation on wolf stuff. “Peter never really coped with that and watching James lose Rachel made the old wound reopen. He bottled it up but I saw it over the holidays so I asked Sam to talk to him and he agreed to go there for a bit.”

“He’s coming back tomorrow afternoon.” Sam said. “But I wish he was coming home now. It’d make this so much easier.”

“How?” Isaac asked.

“He’s a former alpha.” Sam said. “Huge amount of power. Very distracting to them. And Peter’s fast. He’d be able to distract them long enough for us to get them away from the school.”

“You’d use him as bait?” Boyd asked, looking horrified.

“You don’t know Peter if you think anyone would use him as bait without his consent.” Derek told his beta, eyes fixed on Sam.

“And you know in this case he would.” Sam said.

Derek nodded. “But he’s not here.”

“So what are doing now?” Scott finished Derek’s thought.

“We’re going to have to blast them.” Chandra said.

“Blast them?” Erica asked, looking a little excited. “Sounds fun.”

“I don’t know.” Sam said. “It’s dangerous.”

“We live for danger.” Joe said, smiling at Sam.

She glanced at him, biting her bottom lip. Then she sighed. “You’re probably right Chandra. It’s our only option.”

“What’s blasting?” Lydia asked.

“We’re going to use the light we’re given when we Master fire to scare them off. Stiles we can use you and your power to amplify it once we have it.” Sam explained. “But it’ll be dangerous because while we do the spell leading to it, we’re vulnerable.”

“We’ll keep you safe.” Derek, Zach, and Joe all said at once.

Sam and Chandra grinned.

“So.” Erica said. “Is this a time we’re allowed to skip class?”

~

“Ready?” Sam whispered to Chandra and Stiles, the people closest to her.

They both nodded, breathing deeply to calm their nerves. Sam and Chandra moved forward, Stiles following right behind them. The three of them crept carefully through a huge bunch of bushes, stopping before they exited the front, instead just peering out through the branches.

In front of them were five people, three girls and two guys, all of them banging on what appeared to be a solid wall of air. Sam made a note to commend Chandra on her work when they were in a less perilous position. All five people looked human but Lydia and Danny had been right, there was something fox-like about them. None of them could put a finger on it, but it was clear they weren’t human.

Sam turned to Stiles and Chandra, asking a question with her eyes. They both nodded once again and Sam and Chandra took hands. Stiles stood between them his hands extended towards their joined ones but not touching them. And together, Sam and Chandra began to chant.

“We call on the fire and light within.” They began. “We bring it forth and give it power.”

They could hear the fighting as the foxes tried to get to them and the wolves fended them off. Stiles looked towards the trees in front of him, where the sounds of fighting were coming from. He looked worried. But he didn’t move.

“We call on the sun and the strength it gives us.” Sam and Chandra continued. “We call on the love we hold in our hearts.” As they finished the fourth line, light began to shine in the center of their joined arms. “We call on the strength of our families. We call on the strength of our friends.” The light between their arms grew brighter.

The sound of fighting got closer. One fox, one of the males, came running from the trees. He ignored the girls as if they didn’t exist and went straight for Stiles. Derek came crashing out of the trees, grabbing the fox and flinging him back towards the fight.

“Go!” Stiles shouted, seeing Derek hesitate. But at his shout Derek turned back and rejoined the sounds.

“Hurry!” Stiles exclaimed, hands still held out towards the growing light, although now they were shaking.

“We call on the power within our souls.” Sam and Chandra continued, their voices growing louder and the light between them brighter. “The power of the Flame and the power of the Light. We call it to us to protect and save lives. We bring the Light to cast away the Darkness and send it back into the night!” As they finished the chant they flung the arms on the side of the fighting outwards and Stiles pushed forward, the three of them launching a huge blast of bright light into the forest.

Both girls sagged forward. Chandra caught herself but Sam crumpled to the ground. Stiles was gasping for breath.

“SAM!” Joseph’s shout came. He burst from the trees, skidding to a stop next to her. The rest of the wolves plus Zach came crashing after him. Zach went straight to Chandra and Derek to Stiles, but everyone else was staring at Sam and Joe. And those with better hearing, nearly everyone there, could hear the sound that was bringing the tears to Joseph’s eyes. Sam’s heartbeat was slowing down.

“We need to get home.” Joe growled. “Now.”


	15. The Truth

Joe didn’t even take the time to go get the cars. He just took off through the woods, heading for the house. Lydia, Danny, and Jackson volunteered to bring the cars to the house and were handed all the keys before everyone else took after Joe. No one expended the energy to talk to each other. They just ran. Stiles and Chandra were manipulating their magic to keep up and even stay in front of the wolves, needing to catch up with Joe and help their teacher.

When they caught up they found Joe carefully setting Sam in front of the Nemeton.

“She’s drained.” Joe said softly. Immediately Chandra, Stiles, and Zach jumped into action. All three of them grabbed sticks and started drawing in the sand around Sam and Joe, who was still kneeling at her side.

“What’s happening?” Scott asked, looking concerned and scared.

“She’s dying.” Stiles said, finishing the rune he was drawing in the sand and starting on a new one.

“Dying?” Isaac repeated. “Why? How?!”

“She did too much.” Chandra explained, still working on her runes. “We need to give her enough power to keep her alive.”

“Or what?” Erica asked.

“Or she’ll die and take most of this forest with her.” Joe said softly. The other coven members paused for a moment, terror, worry, and concern clear on their faces. But then their faces with filled with determination and they jumped back to work.

The pack watched in worried and terrified silence.

When they were done Chandra and Stiles stood on either side of Joe and Sam and Zach stood behind Joe.

“We give our strength.” They whispered together. Threads of silver and blue light wafted out from Stiles, reds and oranges and golds came from Chandra, and greens and brown came from Zach. They wound around Sam, curling close to her. Straight silver was coming from the center of Joe’s chest, connecting to Sam’s chest. Right where their hearts are.

From Sam came a low glow, barely visible in the midday sun.

The lights from the coven faded and they rushed back to Sam and Joe.

“She’s okay.” Joe said, his voice filled with relief. His heart was pounding loudly. He’d obviously been scared.

“Let’s get her inside.” Zach suggested. “She needs to rest.”

“Need to explain.” Sam’s voice was soft and weak but it was there.

“Not until you rest.” Chandra said firmly.

“Now.” Sam said. Her eyes weren’t even open as she curled against Joe.

“After you rest.” Stiles told her firmly.

Sam humphed but didn’t argue. Soon her heartbeat and breathing was steady and smooth. She was asleep.

“What just happened?” Derek asked.

“After she rests.” Chandra said. “For now, you guys can come to our house. We’ve got plenty of food for a combined dinner. I have a feeling we’re all going to be needed for this talk with Sam.”

~

“What happened out there today?” Lydia asked, looking around. They’d given the missing three humans a rundown of everything but so far there hadn’t been any more discussion of the events of the day. But now they were all sitting outside, in a circle under the evening glow of the sun, bellies stuffed full of Chandra’s amazing dinner, and everyone was ready for some answers.

“Sam drained herself.” Joe said.

“What does that mean?” Scott asked. “And why was she going to implode?”

“When a Druid casts a spell too big for their power reserves, it drains them.” Chandra explained. “And then their life force begins feeding the spell. And if all their life power is drained into a spell, they die. The spell drains every particle of energy it can from their bodies and leaves them beyond dead. And with someone as powerful as Sam, who is attached to this entire forest, the spell would also drag in the surrounding environment and kill every single plant in the entire area.”

“So she’s a ticking time bomb?” Jackson asked.

“No.” Joe growled.

Derek automatically growled back, his wolf refusing to allow another alpha to exert alpha power over one of Derek’s own betas. Joe backed off instantly, but still glared.

“Sam is fine now.” Joe said. “We gave her some of our power. The power that regenerates inside all of us. The power shifters use to shift. The power mages use to control their magic. It stopped her draining and gave her enough strength to stay stable until her own power came back. She’s perfectly safe.”

“So why’d it happen?” Boyd asked. “If Sam’s so powerful, how’d she get drained so fast? Chandra looks fine.”

“I am.” Chandra said. “But Sam isn’t me.”

“But she is more powerful than you?” Erica confirmed.

“Yes. She is far stronger.”

“So how’d it happen?” Erica asked.

“She’ll be up soon and she’ll tell you herself.” Joe jumped back in.

“And until then,” Stiles butt in. “I think we might have a bigger problem. Me.”

“What about you?” Derek asked, immediately on guard.

“You saw it.” Stiles said, looking at Chandra. “I know you did.”

Chandra nodded. “I agree that this is something big. And knowing our luck, something bad.”

“What?” Scott demanded. “What’s going on?”

“Did you see it too?” Stiles said, looking at Derek.

Derek didn’t respond, but his eyes widened a fraction and he looked scared.

Stiles looked at the others. “Today, during the light spell, I was with Sam and Chandra, encouraging their power. A fox got out of the fray and came straight for us, as we knew they would if they got out. But the fox completely ignored Sam and Chandra, the bigger threat and the sources of the magic that was about to banish him back to the shadows. He came straight for me instead.”

“For you?” Lydia asked.

Stiles nodded. “It was like Sam and Chan weren’t even there. Like all it wanted was me and it didn’t care what happened to it on its way.”

“Yup.” Isaac said. “This is bad.”

Joe shot to his feet, his chair falling back, and sprinted for the house.

“Sam’s awake.” Zach translated for the people around the circle unfamiliar with Joe and Sam’s behavior after a moment of confused silence.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Derek said.

“It’s the warding on their room.” Chandra explained. “We can’t hear the difference, but Joe could feel it. He’ll bring her out.”

“And then we’ll get some answers?” Jackson asked. “Because I’m kind of sick of having unanswered questions with these monsters in our town.”

“He’s right.” Sam said. She was walking of her own power but looked weak. Joe was following her closely, ready to catch her if need be. “It’s time all the cards were visible to everyone. Not just those of us that have needed to see them or the ones that put them in play.”

Everyone was silent as she walked over and sank down onto the grass next to Derek. Joe sat next to her.

“So what don’t we know?” Lydia asked finally.

Sam looked around at them all. “I guess I’ll start with me. You all saw my…weakness today and I think it’s time everyone knew about it.”

If anyone were looking they’d see Derek, Joe, Chandra, and Stiles look guilty for a moment before their faces went back to concerned and interested.

“At the beginning of the school year,” Sam started. “Before we even came to this town, I started hallucinating.”

“About what?” Lydia asked, ever the curious one.

“Everything.” Sam told her. “Colors were wrong, burgers looked like steaks, fries like carrots, Joe looked like Boris sometimes. So I went to May and we talked. And it’s a disease called Cavo’s Syndrome.”

“I’ve never heard of it.” Scott said, looking very confused.

Sam smiled weakly. “That’s because it’s rare. And only affects Druids so the human world has no idea it exists. And they have no need to know it exists.”

“What is it?” Jackson asked, looking a little scared.

“A mental disease.” Sam answered. “It makes my brain see things that aren’t there. Or to see things that are there as something different.”

“How come you don’t have it now?” Erica asked. “I mean it’s not like we wouldn’t notice if you were seeing things.”

“I do still have it.” Sam answered. “But May helped me fix it, at least temporarily until the cure is made.”

“There’s a cure?” Lydia asked. “Why haven’t you taken it yet?”

“It can only be made on the blue moon.” Sam explained. “Of which there is only one this year. In May.”

“What are you doing?” Danny asked quietly, as if the answer might scare him.

Sam sighed, glancing at Joe. Joe leaned into her, putting his arm around her. She took a deep breath and centered herself before answering.

“I have to funnel my magic inwards to counteract the visions.” Sam told them. “At first it was easy. It didn’t take much and the visions were gone. But after I power dumped against Eli, it’s been getting harder and harder to keep the visions away. I have to put more and more of my power into it. So much of my magic is going straight to that as soon as it’s there that today’s spell was a bit too much for me. I’m afraid I won’t be much help anymore. Until I get the cure, I won’t be able to use magic. From here on out, I’m basically human.”

“Well it’s not that bad being human.” Danny said, trying to lighten the mood.

No one smiled.

“Who knew?” Jackson asked. “Joe obviously. But who else?”

“Only Joe, May, Boris, Chandra, Stiles, and Derek knew until now.” Sam answered. “Joe because as you said, obvious. May and Boris, again obvious reasons. Chandra and Stiles are my students, they could feel my magic reserves shrinking. And Derek because we’re partners in protecting this town. He had to know if I was going to be weak.” She looked at Zach. “I’m sorry for not telling you Cana.”

Zach smiled and shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. I understand your reasoning. The less people who know, the better.”

Sam smiled. “Thank you Zach.”

“That’s it?” Derek asked. “The only people who knows is us?”

Sam nodded. “I couldn’t risk telling anyone else. If the people I’ve pissed off in my life knew I was powerless, they’d come after me full pedal to the metal and it won’t matter who gets in their way. I couldn’t risk anyone more than you guys, May, and Boris.”

“And him.” Joe whispered.

“Who?” Lydia demanded.

“Nothing.” Joe said.

“You said no more secrets.” Stiles reminded them.

Sam sighed. “He’s right.” She told Joe softly. She looked at the others. “The only person besides you guys is… Peter.”

“Peter knows?!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Yes.” Sam said calmly looking at her student. “I asked him to look it up in the libraries at the estate I sent him to. Their library is immense and I needed to know if it needing more to block it was natural.”

“And was it?” Chandra asked.

Sam nodded. “The longer you go without treating it, the harder it is to block. If I don’t get the cure immediately after the blue moon in May, I will die. I won’t have enough magic left to keep it going.”

“Can’t you just take the visions for a bit?” Jackson asked. “Let your magic recharge or something.”

“I don’t think it’s that easy.” Danny whispered.

Sam shook her head. “I’ve been blocking them for months. Releasing it now would only result in nightmare hallucinations instead. I won’t have any idea what’s real and what’s not and then I would become just another danger against this town.”

“Don’t do that.” Boyd advised.

Sam smiled at him. “That’s not the only thing I’ve been keeping secret.”

“What is it?” Derek asked, looking just as worried as the rest now. He didn’t know what the other secret was.

“It’s about Stiles.” Sam started.

“What?!” Stiles exclaimed. “What haven’t you told me?!”

“It’s not bad.” Sam said. “You don’t have Cavo’s if that’s what you’re worrying about. You’re awake. You’re fine. It’s something else.”

“So I’m not dying?” Stiles asked, making sure.

Sam smiled a bit again and nodded. “You’re not dying.”

Stiles sighed. “Wooft. That’s a relief.”

“What is it?” Lydia asked.

“Stiles isn’t a Spark.” Sam declared.

There was silence around the circle. And then, very quietly, Stiles’s voice broke it, sounding terrified.

“Then what am I?”

Sam saw the worry and fear in her student’s eyes and scrambled clumsily over to hug him. “Don’t you worry.” She whispered. “It’s not bad. You were a Spark. Deaton was right when he told you that. But now you’re not.”

Stiles pulled away. “Then what am I?”

Sam sighed and went back to Joe, pressing back against for comfort. “It’s difficult to explain. Think of it this way. There’s probably three thousand Sparks in the world right now. Of those, about a dozen are what you are. It’s like…like a subcategory of Sparks.”

“So it’s the same but different?” Scott asked.

“The same thing, but different in one way.” Sam told him. “A way that makes him very valuable to the kumihos. That’s way that one in the forest went after you like it did. It could feel your difference.”

“What way?” Stiles asked.

“You’re something called a Neraka.” Sam told him.

“What the fuck is that?” Jackson asked.

Sam smiled. “In English it means Inferno.” She looked back at Stiles. “You’re a Spark that became an Inferno.”

“What does that mean for him?” Derek asked. “For us?”

“Infernos are like Sparks in every way but one.” Sam repeated. “It’s that one difference that makes him valuable to the kumihos.”

“What is it?” Stiles asked.

“Power.” Sam answered. “Pure, undiluted, loyalty-driven power.”

“I’m powerful?” Stiles asked.

Sam nodded. “When you came to the Ranch, May and I put a sort of dam up in your mind. You allowed us to because we explained what it would do. Your magic was spilling everywhere and the dam would help you learn how to control it and shape it. The plan was to bring it down bit by bit as you learned that control. But when I power-dumped, I couldn’t keep the dam up anymore and it shattered. That power went flooding through you, unexpected and uncontrolled. You didn’t notice it, or I didn’t know if you did, but I did.”

“I noticed.” Stiles said. “I just thought it had to do with finally finding my Center.”

“That was part of it.” Sam said. “But it’s different. That’s soul power. Control. This was raw, unchecked, magical power.”

“The tree burns.” Stiles said, looking at Derek, who nodded in understand.

“Makes sense now at least.”

“Mind explaining for the dummies over here?” Scott asked.

Stiles and Derek both smiled.

“Back in November, a couple weeks after the fight with Eli, Derek and I went for a run together. And we ended up racing. We didn’t go far, but the path I took was burned afterwards. Like I’d scorched it. We just brushed it off at the time, I’d noticed it was a bit more difficult with control but thought it was to do with the whole bonding thing, my anchors settling again. I used magic to help the burned trees but it always bugged me a bit in the back of my mind.”

Sam nodded. “That was your control having difficulty with the huge reserve you now had access to.”

“So why do they want specifically Stiles?” Danny asked. “Any of us would have huge life power, well me and Lydia not more than average, but you guys for sure. Why Stiles?”

“I think that question would be better suited to be directed at me.”

The voice was familiar but surprising as it drifted from the woods. But the coven all knew it and they jumped to their feet, racing towards the forest. Allison was back.

“Ally!” Stiles shouted, practically tackling the girl.

The hunter laughed and caught her balance easy, keeping them both on their feet with only a little effort as she hugged Stiles back. The rest of the coven gathered around, hugging Allison around Stiles.

“Good to see you too.” She said, laughing.

“Missed you.” Stiles mumbled, rubbing at her shoulder. Being around wolves all the time was bound to rub off eventually.

“We all did.” Chandra assured him.

“Where’s Seth?” Zach asked, looking around for his best buddy.

“Right here buddy.” Seth said, stepping out of the trees. “I was hanging back and getting familiar with the kumiho scent.”

Zach grinned and ran over to him, the two friends embracing tightly. By now the pack had caught up and Allison was passed through them, hugging the girls and Danny tightly and giving the others less tight hugs. She was still having difficulty with the whole retrusting them. Which was completely acceptable in her position. But the girls and Danny had her complete trust already. When Zach finally let go of Seth he was also passed through the crowd. Seth got hugs from Lydia, Erica, and Danny but just bumped fists with the rest of them. He wasn’t too trusting of them yet either. It’s hard to trust someone who hurt your mate so bad. But they’re both working on it.

“You weren’t supposed to be back till Friday.” Stiles said to Allison as they walked back to the yard, he’d latched onto her arm again as soon as she was done being passed around. It was posed as a statement but meant as a question.

“We decided to come back early. We figured we were needed here more than with my stupid, bigoted family members.”

Stiles grinned, laughing a bit. “That bad?”

“They were awful.” Allison said. “And the only reason they didn’t try and shoot Seth was because he was with me and they knew I’d kill them for hurting him. If any other wolf, or hunter, had tried it they’d be dead.”

“It’s hard for them to let go of the past.” Stiles shrugged. “Your dad was the same but he had it easier because he had a huge reason to see it differently. He didn’t want to hurt you by killing your boyfriend. So he changed his views and his motto so that he didn’t have to. They don’t have that sort of motivation. Just someone they see as a child telling them to change. It’ll take time for that to work its way deep enough.”

Allison smiled. “You always say such smart things. It’s amazing.”

Stiles laughed, looking a little offended at the hidden insult but still grinned. It was great having Allison back.

“So you know what’s going on then?” Lydia called the question over to Allison as they all sat back down in the lawn.

Allison nodded. “Sam and Joe have been keeping me up to date. And I think I know why they want Stiles.”

“Why?” Stiles asked, needing to know.

“Sam’s right. It’s because you’re an Inferno.”

“The one time I fucking wish to be wrong.” Sam muttered. “Why can’t I be right about like the fucking weather or something? Instead I have to be right about this fucking shit.”

“You done over there?” Stiles asked. “Trying to learn here.”

Sam rolled her eyes but smiled at Allison. “Go for it.”

Allison nodded, taking a deep breath and shifting slightly towards Seth. She may be human but she still takes comfort in having him near. “They need an Inferno. Or something of equal power.”

“Why?” Danny asked.

“Their king.” Allison said.

“The kumihos have a king?” Lydia asked. “We didn’t see anything about that it all the journals we have.”

“Because the hunters were careful not to mention it.” Allison said. “The greatest kept secret among the hunter families that helped capture them. The Argents, the Kastners, and the Morrisons. The knowledge of the king is passed down from leader to leader in the book of secrets every family has. No one but the leader can open the book. And while Seth and I were gone, I finally got the time to finish reading it.”

“What’s it say?” Stiles demanded.

“Calm down Stiles.” Derek said gently.

“Sorry.” Stiles sobered quickly. “I just want to know.”

“It’s fine.” Allison said smiling. “I get it. I’d want to know too.”

Stiles smiled. “Keep going.” He begged.

She nodded. “When the hunters and the Druids captured and contained the kumihos, they locked the king away separately. Without their king with them they were deemed less likely to escape. And he’s the most dangerous of them all. The strongest. So they locked him up with more wards than the rest. He’s locked away tight. They need immense power to get him out of his prison.”

“That’s why they need me.” Stiles said. “They want my power to bring their king back.”

“And if they’re bringing him back now, it means there are a lot of them here _now_.”  Sam said, looking scared. “They could all be here.”

“What the hell are we supposed to do to stop them?” Isaac asked, looking around the circle.

“We’re fucked.” Jackson said. “There could be an entire army here. And we can’t kill five of them between all of us. How the fuck are we supposed to kill them all?”

“I have no idea.” Allison admitted.

“We have to do it.” Sam said. “Or everyone will die. And it will be painful and torturous.”

“No pressure then.” Erica snarked. “Not like pressures a thing we need to worry about. It’s just the lives everyone in the entire world in our hands and if we fail they die in painful ways and it will be all our faults but one good thing is we’ll already be dead so we won’t even have to see what our fuck ups caused.”

“We’ll be fine.” Chandra said firmly. “We have the Light on our side.”

“We have one newly Mastered Druid and one only partially trained mage along with nine wolves, one cat, one hunter, two humans, and a Druid that can’t do magic.” Isaac counted off. “Jackson’s right. We’re fucked.”


	16. Cuddles

Stiles woke up Friday morning with a werewolf on his chest.

“This isn’t the most comfortable.” He managed to gasp.

Derek grunted and moved off a bit so Stiles could breathe, but still kept him pinned to the bed.

“Why the excessive cuddling?”

“You no school. I sleep here. Too early. Sleep now. Talk later.” Derek mumbled.

Stiles remembered now. They had the day off school so Derek and he were planning to spend the day together before the pack all gets together for what was supposed to be Allison and Seth’s surprise welcome home party that is no longer a surprise and no longer a welcome back because they’ve been home since Tuesday but Lydia insisted and so it was still happening.

“You’re such a puppy.” Stiles said, smiling at his werewolf’s morning persona. Derek before coffee is a great and adorable thing that Stiles always cherishes as long as Derek’s still in bed. Derek out of bed before coffee is grumpy and unsocial. He’s still adorable, but grumpy.

Derek just grumbled and made shushing sounds.

Stiles rolled his eyes but settled back into his bed, lifting one hand to run it through Derek’s hair and smiling at the almost purr-like sound Derek made.

“Such a puppy.” Stiles repeated fondly, stroking Derek’s head.

Derek just made shushing sounds again and Stiles sighed. “Okay, okay I get it back to sleep I go.”

Derek made a sound that sounded like he was pleased with the decision.

Stiles rolled his eyes one last time and let sleep take him again.

 

When Stiles woke up again it was to the smell of bacon and pancakes. That’s a very good smell on his list of good things to wake up to in the morning and he sat up bleary-eyed to seek out the source for said smell. He stumbled down stairs and found Derek in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Morning.” Derek called, not looking away from the pancakes he was working on.

Stiles smiled and went over to stand behind Derek and wrap his arms around his waist, poking his head over his shoulder to see Derek’s work.

“I didn’t know you knew how to make pancakes.”

“I did feed Laura and myself when we were in New York.” Derek reminded him. “I know how to cook.”

“I know. I just didn’t expected pancakes. It’s weird.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “And we’re weird people.”

“That is true.” Stiles conceded. “What time is it anyways?”

“Little after eleven.” Derek told him. “And sorry about this morning.”

Stiles smiled. “It’s fine. I like Sleepywolf. You’re adorable.”

Derek scowled down at the pancakes and Stiles grinned. He went up on his tiptoes to get over Derek’s shoulder and kiss the frown lines on his face. “No scowls today.”

Derek cracked a smile despite himself. He couldn’t keep a scowl for long with Stiles around.

Stiles smiled at the small smile on Derek’s face, proud of himself. “So did you have plans for our day?”

Derek shrugged a little. “I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“Feeling protective?” Stiles asked, understanding immediately.

Derek’s ears turned a little red as he nodded.

Stiles grinned and kissed the red ear on the side he was on. “Don’t be embarrassed. I figured it would come eventually. Joseph has barely let Sam out of his sight all week and Zach and Chandra have been attached at the hip as well. Everyone’s been antsy since the attack on Tuesday. But we’ll be fine.”

“But it’s not Sam or Chandra those things are after.” Derek murmured, keeping his gaze on the pancakes that were nearly done.

Stiles smiled sadly and hugged Derek tighter. “I am not going anywhere Derek. I am not leaving you again. I am not letting go.”

Derek nodded and got the finished pancakes off the griddle before turning it off and turning around to look at Stiles. “I’m worried.” He admitted softly.

Stiles smirked. “Well I’d be worried if you weren’t. These things are evil and dangerous. Worry and fear are what’s keeping us on our toes. As soon as we relax is when we’ll get taken down. We can’t take these things lightly.”

Derek nodded, smiling. “I love it when you talk smart.”

Stiles grinned and kissed Derek quickly. “I love it when you make food.”

Derek laughed and slipped from Stiles’s grasp to finish getting breakfast together. They sat down at the table and hooked their ankles underneath to stay in contact as they ate.

“Do you want to just stay in and watch TV all day?” Stiles asked a few minutes into the meal.

Derek smiled. “Sounds fun.”

Stiles grinned. “Good. I can finally show you that show I’ve been wanting you to see.”

Derek smiled fondly. “You’re calling pizza in for lunch and we have to be at Lydia’s at four.”

“Yea yea we’ll get there. And even if we don’t I’ll just blame you’re wolfyness not letting me out of the house. Or the bed this morning.”

“I did apologize for that.”

“And I told you there was no reason to be sorry. I like you and I like your wolf because it’s you. Now shut up and pass me the syrup.”

Derek rolled his eyes but did as he was told.

 

After breakfast they cleaned up the kitchen and headed into the living room. Derek sat down on the couch and Stiles curled into his side, remote in hand to find something on TV.

Once he had something on he paused it quickly and looked up at Derek.

“What?” Derek asked.

“How bad was it?” Stiles asked softly.

“How bad was what?”

“Watching me help them with the spell on Tuesday. And seeing that thing come straight at me.”

Derek was silent for a moment before leaning down and putting his head on Stiles’s. “I felt like destroying every last one of them to keep you safe.”

Stiles nodded thoughtfully. “Do you think we can do this? Kill these things?”

“We have to.” Derek said simply. “We don’t really have a choice. We kill them or we die.”

“Sounds so simple when you say it like that.” Stiles observed.

Derek shrugged and kissed Stiles’s head. “It is sort of simple. At least from my view. I’m going to do whatever I can to protect you and the pack. And if I have to rip them apart to stop them from hurting you, so be it. I’ve killed before and I’d do it for you any day.”

Stiles smiled. “I do the same for you.” He said softly.

Derek smiled. “I love you.”

“I know.” Stiles said with a smirk.

Derek rolled his eyes but held Stiles all the tighter.

“Love you too Sourwolf.” Stiles said after a while.

Derek grinned. “I know.”


	17. Party

Derek sighed and looked at his watch. They were already five minutes late and it was going to take at least ten minutes to drive to Lydia’s place. If only they hadn’t decided to shower together before getting dressed. Then they might have left on time. As it was Derek had dressed while Stiles regained consciousness and now he was waiting for him to get dressed as well.

“Stiles we need to go!” Derek shouted.

“I am aware of that!” Stiles answered, racing down the stairs, one shoe in hand and button up half on. “But this is your fucking fault so shut up and help me find my goddamn left shoe!”

“It’s in your hand.” Derek sighed.

Stiles looked at the shoe in his hand. It was the left one. “Well then find the right one!”

Derek pointed towards the wall, where a shoe was laying. “You kicked it off when you were rushing to get your pants off.”

Stiles glared at him. “I hate how easily you talk about me getting naked for you.”

Derek shrugged with a grin. “I know it’s gonna happen either way and I grew up in a house where everyone knew every time you so much as thought about jerking off. I’m comfortable with sex.”

“Yea well I’m fucking not so shut up and go get in the car.” Stiles ordered while he went to get his shoe.

Derek got to his feet. “As you wish m’lady.”

Stiles threw his newly retrieved shoe at him. “Car! Now!”

Derek ducked the shoe and left the house laughing. He unlocked the car and got in, starting it up with a grin. He loves this car. Not as much as he loves Stiles, but enough.

Derek sat there for a minute by himself and then Stiles opened the passenger door and slid in. Derek smiled again as Stiles’s scent washed over him and he backed the car out of the driveway.

“What’re you smiling at?” Stiles asked, smiling himself. He couldn’t help but smile when Derek did.

“You.” Derek said simply.

Stiles smiled but held it back. “I’m still mad at you for making us late.”

“How is it my fault we’re late?!”

“Your fucking dick is distracting!” Stiles exclaimed. “It is the reason we are late therefore you are the reason we are late and you can face Lydia’s wrath!”

“My dick! No it was definitely your inability to stay away from my dick!”

“Oh hell no! You seduced me!”

“Seduced you?! I got in the shower and washed my hair!”

“In a very seductive way!”

“How can you shampoo seductively?!”

“I don’t know but obviously you know how!”

“I have no idea how!”

“Well you have to seeing as you were doing it!”

“I was not!”

“You were to!”

“Was not!”

“Were to!”

Derek didn’t answer again, just glared forward, pouting a little as he turned onto Lydia’s street. Stiles was silent for a moment but sighed as Derek parked.

“Sorry babe I just didn’t want Lydia to blame me.”

Derek smiled a little. “It’s fine. But you get to deal with her now.”

They both got out of the car and looked at each other over it.

“Mutually at fault?” Stiles asked.

Derek nodded. “Sounds good.”

The two of them walked around and met at the front of the car, linking hands to walk up to the front door.

The door opened before they reached it to show Scott. “Lydia’s gonna kill you.” He called out.

“Blame Derek’s dick for distracting me.” Stiles answered back. He didn’t shout because not everyone around needed to know that and he knew the wolves would hear him either way. He grinned as he saw Scott groan and bang his head onto the door frame.

“I do not need to know that Stiles.” He tried glaring at them as they approached the door.

“I know.” Stiles grinned. “That’s why I told you.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Why did I have to choose you? Out of all the sane people in this town why did I have to pick the completely insane Sheriff’s son to be best friends with?”

“Because I’m a loveable teddy bear.” Stiles told him.

“A loveable teddy bear that’s going to find himself without stuffing if he doesn’t get to work.” Lydia’s voice came from the living room as she stepped out. She was in a short, figure-hugging gold dress paired with black stilettos and perfectly applied makeup.

“Hi Lydia.” Stiles smiled nervously.

“I know it’s not really a welcome home party as they’ve been here since Tuesday but the least you could do is help set up.”

“Sorry Derek and I were showering and I got distracted. He was shampooing seductively.”

Lydia sighed. “Only you would get seduced by someone shampooing, Stilinski.”

Stiles grinned.

“Go out back and help Sam and Chandra. They’re getting lights up in the trees and need some more magical help.”

“Okiedokie!” Stiles said happily. He kissed Derek on the cheek, skipped over to Lydia to kiss hers as well, and then skipped towards the backdoor and back outside.

“I’m going to kill him one day.” Lydia said blandly, looking at Derek.

Derek shrugged. “I’ve found it easier to not do it if you plan it out in great detail and then decide he’s not worth the effort.”

Lydia laughed and shook her head, going back into the living room to keep ordering the setup of stuff. “Get upstairs and help Joe get the valuables locked up. I don’t need my ancient books and scrolls getting damaged tonight.”

Derek nodded even though she was gone and couldn’t see it, and went to do as he was told.

 

An hour later the house and backyard were packed and everyone was having a good time. Lydia was flitting around, being a good host and making sure everything was okay while the rest of the pack and the coven were lounging around places, enjoying their free time now that they finished their jobs and the party was in full swing.

Erica, Sam, Chandra, and Allison were sitting outside by the pool, keeping an eye on the crowd outside to make sure no one did anything stupid while they talked.

“So you really control the entire family network?” Erica was asking Allison.

Allison nodded with a grin. “The family is split up into lineages that spread across the country, keeping their own area safe and protected. My family’s line has always been the leaders. My mother was before me and my father’s mother before her and on back through time. All the other lines have their own matriarch but they all answer to me and my lines leader.”

“Why are the girls the leader?” Erica asked.

“Men are impulsive and weak when it comes to strategy. Women can plan something out over decades if necessary and will see it through to the end.” Allison explained with a grin. “Men are stronger but women are smarter. So we take roles that express that.”

“It’s a good system really.” Sam commented, a little distracted. She didn’t like not being able to feel her coven in her mind. The magic that used to power the constant connections was being funneled with the rest of it towards keeping her mind sane. She missed feeling them, even Derek and Peter. She was having to rely on Erica and Chandra to tell her what’s happening to her family and she didn’t like it. “Except for when the women are just as crazily homicidal. Then there’s a problem.”

“But that’s just like packs and alphas.” Erica pointed out. “A crazy alpha leads a crazy pack.”

“Normal humans do it to.” Chandra added. “Crazy leaders make for crazy followers. That’s how it works.”

“Well then we’re lucky Sam and Derek aren’t insane.” Allison said happily.

“I don’t know Derek chose Stiles of all people so that’s gotta be a little crazy.” Sam smirked.

The other three girls laughed.

“Derek would like me to tell you you’re an ass.” Erica told Sam.

Sam shrugged. “He gets to put up with it.”

“Okay so I’m going to change the subject now cause I have an important question.” Allison declared.

“Ask away mi amor.” Sam said with a grin.

“What the heck is going on with Ms. Johnson, the chem teacher?”

“What do you mean?” Chandra asked.

“Haven’t you noticed it?” Allison asked. “She has totally been drinking. She looks hungover nearly every day of the week. Except Thursdays. She never seems hungover on Thursdays.”

“You noticed the drinking habits of a teacher we don’t even have?” Erica asked her.

Allison shrugged. “I got intrigued.”

“God am I glad I met you.” Sam grinned. “You analyzed the drinking habits of our teachers that’s awesome.”

“So is it true though?” Chandra asked. “Does Ms. Johnson drink?”

“Definitely.” Allison and Sam said together.

“The question we must answer is why.” Allison stated.

“Marriage problems?” Erica suggested.

“No ring.” Chandra pointed out.

“Loneliness?”Allison asked.

“Perhaps.” Sam said. “But she’s plenty beautiful to get someone so if she wanted someone why doesn’t she just go get them?”

“Maybe they’re married.” Erica threw in.

“Or in some sort of committed relationship.” Chandra added.

“Maybe they don’t feel the same.” Allison suggested. “Which as you pointed out would be weird.”

“Maybe she’s too scared to tell them her feelings.” Sam suggested. “But that wouldn’t be huge enough to drink almost every night of the week.”

“She’s definitely drowning something.” Allison declared. “No one drinks that much and doesn’t have a good reason.”

“It’s obvious.” Stiles declared, dropping down onto Sam’s lap.

“Hey cutie.” Sam teased. “What idea you got?”

“Well it’s obvious that she’s running from something. I got intrigued, like you guys, and so I dug around a bit with Danny’s program. Turns out she moved here from Arizona around the same time her fiancé got thrown in jail for murdering seventeen women. She’s drowning memories.”

“Never would’ve thought of that.” Chandra said. “Good job.”

“Although it’s kind of cheating cause you looked up stuff.” Erica pointed out.

Stiles shrugged. “Whatever.” He looked at Chandra. “Zach was looking for you.”

Chandra sighed. “He better not have broken something.”

“No idea but that’s what I was told to tell you.” He got back to his feet, mussed up Sam and Allison’s hair, and then darted off again.

“He was in a hurry to go.” Erica observed.

“Probably back to Derek.” Sam told her. “Those two have been near inseparable since it came out that Stiles is the kumihos target.”

“Is that healthy?” Allison asked. “I mean not even you and Joe are attached at the hip. No bond couple is.”

Sam shrugged. “As long as it doesn’t go on for too long they’ll be fine. Right now their instincts are screaming to protect each other and I’m not stupid enough to try and stop that. They’re smart boys. They’ll know when to stop.”

Chandra looked up, eyes a little glazed, and then sighed. “Why the hell did I have to fall in love with the most uncoordinated werecat to ever exist?”

“What’d he do now?” Sam asked, looking a little concerned for her coven member and a little amused at Chandra’s exasperation.

“Fell down the stairs.” Chandra told her. She got to her feet. “I gotta go check on him and get him somewhere he’s not a danger to himself and others.”

“Be good.” Erica told her with a smirk.

Chandra just rolled her eyes and walked away.

“Has anyone seen Peter lately?” Sam asked out of the blue. Thinking about Zach had reminded her that she hadn’t seen the older wolf much since the party started. He said he didn’t want to make people uncomfortable by being an old man at a young party.

“Still upstairs in the master bedroom.” Erica told her. She was keeping tabs on almost everyone with the exception of Joe and Zach because the wards their druid mates at put around them prevented it. “He’s alright.” The whole pack had readily accepted Sam’s concern for both of the Hale boys. They were as good as coven to her.

“So now what?” Allison asked, looking at the other two girls still seated at the table.

“We could dance.” Erica suggested, looking hopeful.

“I see no harm in that.” Sam grinned, needing a distraction. “Let’s do it.”

 

Joe felt a finger poke his forehead and opened his eyes to see Sam standing over him.

“Were you actually asleep?” She asked, well shouted over the loud music still blaring throughout the house despite the fact that everyone was gone but the pack and coven.

Joe shook his head. “Meditating.”

“Well stop and help us all clean up.” She ordered.

Joe sighed but rolled off the bed he’d commandeered halfway through the night and followed her downstairs. He winced as the loud music got even louder and then sighed in relief as it turned off. He glanced over at the speakers to see Danny there. The boy smiled at him and Joe smiled back. He looked around the room and sighed. It was a mess and he knew that Lydia wasn’t going to let any of them leave until the place was clean.

“Joe you’re in charge of getting all the alcohol bottles in the same bag and getting that bag or bags gone.” He heard Lydia order from outside. He could hear her ordering the rest of the coven around outside as they cleaned the backyard.

“You got it Red.” He muttered, going to the kitchen to find a garbage bag.

Out back Stiles was standing by the edge of the pool, using magic to pull bubbles of water with trash out so Derek could pluck the trash out and put them in a bag before Stiles returned the water to the pool.

“Where was Joe?” He called over to Sam, who was fishing trash out of the trees with Chandra and Zach.

“Upstairs in one of the bedrooms.” Sam answered, dropping from the tree branch she’d been sitting on to dump her load of trash into the bags. “With all his not sleeping lately because of the kuhmios, the party was a bit much so he was meditating.”

“He alright?” Derek asked.

“Yea he’s fine. He’s cleaning inside now.” Sam answered.

“I think tonight went well.” Erica said cheerfully passing by to take Derek’s full trash bag and hand him an empty one.

“Well none of us died.” Chandra shrugged.

“Or came back to life.” Derek added with a pointed look at Lydia. Lydia just grinned at him and kept organizing the clean-up.

“And no one was attacked.” Jackson said happily, he was on the roof getting down the stuff that had somehow gotten up there.

“We did good.” Stiles summarized. “We did damn good.”


	18. Gift

Chandra had spent every daylight hour she wasn’t forced to go to school in this backyard, doing exactly as she was now. Chandra was standing in the center of the yard, fire all around her and racing up and down her body, leaving her and her clothes alone and making an impressive sight.

“Still haven’t got it then?” She called out.

“Nothing yet.” Chandra called back, her voice flat. She was in complete control of everything as she did this.

“You’ll find it eventually.” Sam assured her. “But right now the sun is setting and it’s almost time for dinner so come inside and help me finish up.”

Chandra sighed and continued to stand still as the fire vanished and then she followed Sam inside.

“Why can’t I find my gift?” Chandra asked, picking up apples to peal for the dessert Sam was making.

“I don’t know sweetheart.” Sam said honestly. “I didn’t have to go through the finding process. I just wanted to run with Joe and it happened.” She shrugged. “There’s no set time frame for this Chan. You know that.”

Chandra sighed. “I know that.” She said. “But it’s been nearly two weeks. And I want to know so I can try and help you guys.”

Sam nodded sympathetically and turned to face her. “You’ll find…” Sam trailed off.

“What?” Chandra asked, looking confused.

“Did you move the apple basket?” Sam demanded.

“No.” Chandra answered, looking confused by the question. She glanced over and the basket was still right where she left it. “Why?”

“Is it still where I had it?”

“Of course it is.” Chandra answered. “Why?”

“Because I can’t see it.” Sam told her softly.

Chandra’s eyes widened and she stared at the basket that was clear as day to her yet Sam couldn’t see. She looked at Sam. “What’s going on?”

“What does it look like to you? Does it look normal?”

Chandra examined the basket closer. She noticed that, no, it wasn’t normal looking, it was a little blurry. “It’s blurry.” She said. “But only a little. Like fuzzy on the edges and only if I look for it.” She looked at Sam. “What is this?”

Sam was grinning wide. “I think this is your gift Chan. You found it. You found your gift!”

Chandra blinked in shock and then dove forward to hug Sam. “I did it!”

“You did it!”

“I did it!”

“Yes you did!”

“What did she do?” Stiles asked walking into the kitchen with mud smeered all over his body. “By the way Sam the trail by the river is slippery. Joe, Zach, and I just fell down it. They’re washing off in the river.”

Chandra sprinted around the island in the kitchen and jumped onto Stiles, completely uncaring about his mud covered clothes. “I did it!” She crowed happily.

Stiles hugged her back, laughing. “I’m proud of you but I still have no idea what you did!”

“She found her gift.” Sam told him a with a proud smile.

Stiles’s face lit up with shock, surprise, and happiness as he looked back at Chandra. “Oh my god you did?!”

Chandra nodded and Stiles hugged her tight, spinning her around.

“Stiles, go get the guys we need to celebrate.” Sam ordered.

Stiles nodded with a grin and ran from the room. Chandra turned back to Sam. “I can’t believe I finally found it.”

Sam smiled. “We’ll go out tonight and form it fully. We’ll all go out together so the boys and Allison can be there for it.”

“Will it be safe?” Chandra immediately worried. “It’s the new moon. We have no idea what those things are going to be doing.”

“The Nemeton will protect us.” Sam assured her. “We have to do it now if you want any chance of keeping it strong.”

Chandra nodded, but she was still biting her lip. “Maybe we should ask Derek to come too.”

“If Joe’s fine with another alpha being there I’m good with it.” Sam told her. “He’s basically coven anyways.”

“Chandra!” Zach’s voice came from outside. A moment later there was the bang of a door, some swear as Zach slipped in the hallway, and then he was in the kitchen and crashing into Chandra, crushing her into a tight hug. “You found it.” He said softly. “You finally found it oh my god and I wasn’t here for it!”

Chandra laughed, hugging him back. “It’s fine Zach. You didn’t have to be there for it.”

“So what is it then?” Joe asked, walking a lot more calmly into the room, Stiles behind him.

Chandra pulled away from Zach, both of them keeping an arm around the other, and looked at Sam. “I don’t actually know what it’s called.”

“Illusions.” Sam said with a grin. “You can create illusions like heat creates mirages in the desert.”

“Really?” Stiles exclaimed. “That’s a thing?!”

Sam laughed. “Yes it’s a thing and our Chandra managed to get one of the most sought after gifts a fire mage can have.”

Chandra grinned. “How do I can control it?”

“We’ll go over that.” Sam promised her. “It’s really easy so you won’t have any trouble mastering it.”

“I need to call Derek!” Stiles exclaimed suddenly, digging for his phone.

“Your phone’s on the counter doofus.” Joseph said, rolling his eyes.

Stiles dove towards the counter and grabbed his phone.

“You may as well invite him to dinner as well.” Sam told him. “I’ve made more than enough.”

“What are we having?” Joe asked, going over to hug her and looked at what she was making on the stove.

“Chicken Parmesan.” Sam told him.

“Yaaaaayyyyyyyy.” Joe drawled.

Sam rolled her eyes and looked around her mate to look at Chandra and Zach, who were now making out in the middle of the kitchen. “Chandra! Zachary! Go do that in your room!”

They pulled apart with a grin.

“Okay.” Zach declared before pulling Chandra from the room.

“Derek’s coming over!” Stiles said happily before darting from the room, probably to go take a shower because his romp in the forest made him reek.

Sam sighed loudly.

“What?” Joe asked with a smile.

“We’re such a strange group of people. How the hell are we not all dead yet?”

Joe laughed and kissed her cheek. “I have absolutely no idea.”

 

“So what is this thing we have to do?” Derek asked, grabbing another piece of garlic bread from the bowl. “And why was it so important I left Peter in charge of the pack at home?”

“Chandra has to solidfy her gift.” Sam told him. “You guys are coming along to make us feel a little better about going out in the middle of the new moon night.”

“We’re guard dogs basically.” Joe said with a grin.

“Exactly!” Chandra said happily. She had eaten faster than anyone else and was now bouncing in her seat, unable to wait for the time to come for them to leave. “We need to do this tonight because otherwise my gift will weaken but we can’t risk going alone so you guys are going to come with so we can be alright and oh my god when can we go?!”

The others all laughed and Sam got to her feet with a smile. “If you would all clean up and cover the food while I go get some stuff, we can leave now. The moon’s power is nearing its climax and we mustn’t go too late or we risk getting caught by the kumihos.”

“Let’s go then!” Chandra shot to her feet. Everyone else got up as well, shoving the last bits of food in their mouths.

“I’m going to go get my bow. I have a feeling I’ll need it.” Allison said, ducking from the room.

“This is probably going to go bad.” Seth said, grabbing tin foil to cover the dishes. “I mean nothing really ever goes right for us.”

“We’re going to be fine.” Chandra declared firmly. There were already little bead sof fire running over her clothes.

“Sweetie you’re on fire.” Zach told her, glancing up from putting the leftover garlic bread in the still warm oven so it would stay warm.

“Shit.” She swore, concentrating for a moment to put it out. “I’m really excited.”

“We can tell.” Stiles told her with a grin.

She blushed a little but kept bouncing happily.

“Sam not back down?” Allison asked, coming back into the room. She’d lost the over-sized sweater she’d been wearing and was wearing a tight, warm coat with a quiver on her back, bow in hand, and knife on her hip.

“She’s looking for something.” Joe answered, head cocked to listen to Sam moving around upstairs. “And she’s apparently not finding it because she’s swearing up a storm. Wait, nope, nevermind she’s got it.”

There were footsteps on the stairs and Sam came back into the kitchen with a coat like Allison’s on and a sword strapped to her back.

“All set then?” She asked.

“You have a sword.” Stiles stated.

Sam grinned. “Yes. Yes I do. Thank you for noticing.”

“Your replacement for your magic?” Derek asked.

Sam nodded. “I learned how to use it with Eli and then mastered it at the ranch with a few kitsune. I’ll be able to protect myself just fine with it.”

“You’re sure?” Joe asked, looking worried.

She nodded, smiling at him. “Keep the others safe first. Then me. Just like always.”

Joe nodded but he didn’t look happy with it.

“We need to get going.” Stiles said. “The moon’s already tugging.”

“Stiles’s is right.” Seth said. “I can already feel it.”

“We need to go then.” Sam declared. “Everyone start heading for the new Nemeton. We can’t go together or we’ll risk attracting the kumihos attention. We have to do this fast.”

“Go in pairs.” Derek suggested. “Protect each other and we’ll be fine.”

“We’ll see you all there.” Sam said firmly.

“Let’s go!” Chandra demanded.

And so in pairs the coven ran outside and split apart as they reached the woods, each pair taking off onto different paths to the same clearing. They stuck close to each other, each listening for footsteps, cracking twigs, breaths of air whooshing from lungs, anything that would give away the presence of anyone else in the forest. They kept their own footsteps light and their breaths even as they raced for the clearing. While the clearing was a haven with the Nemeton’s magic protecting them, the rest of the forest was not.

They gathered back together in the clearing, hugging and touching to assure themselves they all made it.

“Thought we heard something.” Seth told them. “We’ll have to be careful when we leave.”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” Sam said calmly. She looked at Chandra. “Are you ready?”

Chandra nodded. The two girls walked over to stand in front of the Nemeton, raising their hands to lay them on the Celtic knot burnt into the bark.

“We call forth the power of the Light to make a gift solid.” They whispered.

Light faded into being all around the clearing, every tree that had been planted that day, all the saplings still growing around the swords the mages left behind, started glowing at their crowns. The light seeped down the saplings, each leaf glowing softly in the night. The light flowed into the ground, leeching out of the trees and leaving them dark once more as it came towards the Nemeton. The light flowed into the Nemeton’s roots and up the trunk, pooling around the mark on the tree’s surface. Sam pulled her hand back and the light began to flow down Chandra’s arm. When all the light had poured in she pulled her arm away and stood still as the light soaked into her, leaving her skin with a faint glow and then she looked at Sam with a smile and a questioning look. Sam nodded and Chandra grinned before vanishing from sight. Everyone gasped before she reappeared. The glow was gone and she was grinning at them.

“I got it.” She said proudly. “I got my gift!”

Everyone raced forward for a huge group hug and they were all laughing and grinning proudly.

“Good job.” Derek told her. “That invisibility thing will be helpful in the fight to come.”

Chandra nodded with a grin. “I know. And I plan to use it.”

“Only once you can control it.” Sam warned. “I’m not having you turn visible right in time for someone to kill you.”

Chandra nodded seriously but then grinned. “But for now I can play?”

Sam sighed but there was a fond smile on her face. “Tonight only. And only once we’re back at the house.”

“Then let’s get back!”


	19. Bodies

“Sam?”

Joe and Sam woke up and sat up like a shot. They weren’t light sleepers anymore.

“Stiles?” Sam asked. “What time is it?”

“Five.” He told them. “There’s more bodies. An old barn on the outskirts of town were college students get drunk and have orgies.”

“How many?” Joe asked. They were already getting out of bed and dressed.

“He said he couldn’t count them all.” Stiles said, his voice tight. “Could barely bear to look at them.”

Sam and Joe froze and looked at him.

“Is Derek still here?” Sam asked finally.

Stiles nodded. “He’s waking the others up.”

“Tell him to get the pack there.” Sam ordered. “And then call your dad back and tell him we’ll be there soon.”

Stiles nodded and left.

“You okay?” Joe asked softly.

Sam nodded. “How many more are going to die?”

“I don’t know babe. I have no idea. But they need to be stopped before there’s any more bodies. We have to stop them.”

 

Stiles, Derek, Sam, and Joe were the ones who went inside. The others either volunteered to stay outside because they didn’t want to see another scene or were told to stay out by their leader. Neither Sam nor Derek wanted their coven or pack to see more bodies. Instead they were told to spread out and try to find tracks or a scent trail they could actually follow while the four went inside. Derek asked Peter to stay with the pack and keep an eye on him, promising he could go in to take a look after they came back out. Sam and Joe both closed their eyes as soon as they went inside. Derek winced and Stiles’s jaw clenched tight at the sight before them. The Sheriff was right, it was impossible to count the bodies because they were all in pieces. There was blood all over the place and body parts were strewn across the floor, stuck up in the piles of hay, jammed onto spikes on the wall that would’ve held tack at some point, but the worst was the heads, or rather the lack of them. There were arms and legs and chests and abdomens but there were no heads anywhere.

“They took the heads?” Derek whispered.

“We believe so.” John confirmed. “We have as of yet been unable to locate any of them. As you have probably realized this is why we are unsure of the body count. We believe it to be somewhere around fifteen.”

Joe made a choked off noise.

“Go.” Sam whispered to him, finally able to look. But Joe couldn’t open his eyes yet.

“I can’t.” He whispered back.

“Joseph. Go.” Sam insisted. “I’m not losing you. Not now. _Go_.”

Joe nodded and fled from the barn. Stiles and Derek moved forward, trying to determine the series of events that took place in the barn. John walked over and stood next to Sam.

“Is he going to be alright?” John asked quietly, looking concerned.

Sam nodded. “It’s hard for him. He’s a gentle soul.”

“And you’re not?” John asked.

Sam looked at him, her eyes looking dead. “I am not gentle to those who would take my family from me. I believe that is a trait I share with your son.”

John looked over at Stiles, who looked just as dead and emotionless as Sam did. And he nodded with a small smile. “Stiles has always been protective.”

“It’s a good trait for a mage to have. Without strong emotions to anchor us we tend to drift away.”

“What are yours?”

“Protectiveness and love.” Sam answered. “Your son is the same but he also has anger. Combined, those make him a dangerous man to anyone who would dare to harm anyone he cares about.”

John nodded. “Well, keep him safe then. For me. I can’t lose him. He’s all I have.”

Sam nodded and looked at John again. “I would die before I’d let someone hurt anyone in my coven. We all have the same tattoo for a reason. We’re together until the end of the line. No matter what gets in our way.”

“Sam come over here.” Stiles called.

“Thank you.” John whispered.

Sam smiled with a nod before walking over to Stiles and Derek. “What?”

“Look.” Stiles pointed.

Sam looked at it and her breath hitched. She was looking at four words, crudely etched into the wood side of a stall. There was blood splattered across them and it only made them look worse.

“The King will rise.” Derek read softly.

“They aren’t trying to break others out anymore.” Stiles whispered. “None of these people were used to bring kumihos into the world. They’re all here. Except one.”

“They’re coming.” Sam whispered. “And soon. They won’t wait much longer.”

“We need to get the others.” Derek said. “None of us can be alone. Ever. They’ll go for any of us to try and draw Stiles out.”

“They know I’ll go.” Stiles said simply. “For any of you. Even Jackson.”

“And they’re getting stronger.” Sam observed. “These bodies weren’t anything for them. Like breaking toothpicks.”

“We have to stick together.” Stiles decided. “We have to keep each other safe now. I’m not losing anyone. Not now.”

“I only have one question left.” John said, coming over.

“And what’s that?” Stiles asked, looking at his dad.

“What do they want with the heads?”

“He has a point.” Derek said. “They’ve never done it before and nothing in the lore says they would do this. Why’d they do it?”

“Are we sure it’s these kumiho things?” John asked. “Or is it something else?”

“It had better be the kumihos.” Sam spat. “They are more than enough for us. We can’t handle anymore.”

“Still have to ask why then.” Derek said softly.

“Perhaps they developed a taste for brain?” Stiles said hopeful.

“I doubt it.” Sam told him.

Stiles sighed. “Yea so do I.”

“We should get going.” John said. “I only got the others away for a little bit. Sent them for breakfast.”

“Thank you for letting us see.” Sam told him. “It’s helpful.”

“Anything I can do to help you catch these things.”

“Peter will need to see this.” Derek said.

“I can handle getting him some time before the men get back.” John nodded.

“Thanks dad.” Stiles said. “Stay safe.”

John nodded. “You too. All of you.”

“We’ll do our best sir.” Derek promised. “We’ll stay alive.”

“You better.” John warned. “You damn well better.”


	20. Scared

“Derek you don’t have to escort me to school.” Stiles said. It was Wednesday morning and he was sitting in the passenger’s seat of Derek’s Camaro, having spent the night at the pack house. Sam and Joe asked the coven to stay at the pack’s house. They hadn’t been sleeping well and wanted to see if being alone would be any better.

“I have to Stiles.” Derek told him, sighing as he was tired of saying it. Stiles had been protesting all morning since Derek told him he was driving him to school.

“No you don’t! I drove my jeep to your house! I could’ve easily driven myself to school!”

“And I told you that it’s not about your ability to drive yourself in. It’s the fact that you would’ve been alone and I am not leaving you alone.”

“You can’t always be with me. You can’t come to class.”

“And the coven and the pack will be there to watch over you while you’re there. And the whole coven is coming to the pack house tonight to talk and so Chandra can help Isaac and Erica with the biology they’re having trouble understanding and we need to figure out what’s going to happen next so you can get your jeep then.”

“I don’t need to be constantly escorted everywhere! I’m not some defenseless package! I’m a mage, an Inferno in fact! I’m in the process of Mastering two elements! I fought with some of the strongest supernaturals in the world and shared my power! I’m not weak Derek!”

Derek didn’t respond but pulled the car over. He looked at Stiles. “Do you really not understand?”

“Understand what Derek?”

“I’m scared.” Derek whispered. “I am terrified that something is going to happen to you. Those…those _things_ out there are after you because only you can give them the power they want. They want you and Lydia said they won’t stop at anything to get to you. And I’m terrified. I’m terrified that Sam or your dad or someone else is going to call me and tell me that they took you. I’m terrified of _losing_ you. Because if I lose you, fuck if I lose you I will go out of my fucking mind Stiles. I need you. It won’t just be you they took. But all I have left of myself. All your dad has left of his family. The only person in Scott’s life besides his mother that was there for him when his dad left. You’re the reason Peter has stuck around for so long. You accepted him and you’ve become his family. If you die, every single one of us will die with you. You’re what’s holding the pack and the coven together. You’re the cornerstone Stiles. If you die, we will all go insane trying to get you back. Can’t you understand that? That’s why I can’t let you be alone. I can barely let you leave my sight knowing that I may never see you again. I may never hear your voice or your laugh or feel you in my arms or your lips against mine and that _terrifies_ me. I have never been more scared than I am right now.”

Stiles stared at him, eyes locked on the tears in Derek’s eyes and drifting down his cheeks.

“Say something.” Derek whispered, almost pleading.

“I can’t think of anything to say.” Stiles admitted. “I guess I forgot how hard this must be for you.”

“You mean knowing that my mate could be torn away at any moment by demonic foxes? Yea. It’s hard.”

“Sorry.” Stiles murmured, looking down. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything. I just feel so constricted. Everyone’s always around me and I don’t ever get any time to myself anymore.”

“I can talk to Sam about giving you freedom.” Derek promised. “I just don’t want you getting hurt. I wouldn’t be able to handle that.”

Stiles nodded. “I know. I’d protect you the same way. But I can’t stay cooped up Derek. We’ve barely done anything in ages. Not since these killings started.”

“We did that tree jumping thing.”

“As a group.” Stiles countered.

“So you want to do something? Just the two of us?”

Stiles nodded. “But I know it won’t happen until this is over.”

“I’ll do my best.” Derek promised.

Stiles smiled at him. “I know.”

“But we can’t do it tonight.” Derek told him as he pulled back out onto the road. “Sam wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What?”

“No idea. She just said it was important.”

“Well then I’d best not vanish into the woods with you. As much as I want to.”

Derek smiled. “Yea she’d come and find us easily. Magic or no, she’s scary.”

“You know those boots she’s been wearing since last Tuesday?”

“The cowboy ones?”

“Yea.”

“What about them?”

“There’s knives in them.” Stiles said with a grin.

“I’m not surprised.” Derek smiled. “She’s doesn’t seem the kind to stay unarmed.”

“She’s scared.” Stiles said suddenly. “I can feel it. She doesn’t have the power to block her emotions from us anymore and she is terrified. Of losing Joe. Of losing us. Of not being strong enough to kill these things. She already blames herself for Rachel, if any of us are killed by those things she’s only going to blame herself because of her magic being unusable. And I don’t know how much more she can take.”

“She’s strong Stiles.” Derek reached over to grab Stiles’s hand, comforting him. “She’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know if she will.” Stiles whispered. “I convinced her to come here with me because I hoped that being here would help her forget the past, forgive herself for her mistakes, stopping blaming herself for things in the past that she didn’t control. But now her entire past is crashing down around her and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m terrified _for_ her.”

“She’ll be okay.” Derek said again. “She’ll be okay because we’re here for her. Chandra and Zach and Allison and Seth and you and me and even Peter. We all care about her. We all want her to be safe. And we’re going to keep her safe. We’ll keep each other safe and everything will be okay. We’re all going to walk away from this Stiles. None of us are dying.”

Stiles nodded, squeezing Derek’s hand tight as they pulled into the school parking lot. “See you after school then?”

“I’ll pick you up.” Derek promised, pulling up at the curb.

“That’s interesting.” Stiles said, looking forward. Sam and Lydia were getting out of the car Peter had bought for himself the summer before when  he needed a car to get away in. They stayed by the door after closing it, talking to Peter in the driver’s seat. “Can you hear anything?”

Derek shook his head. “They’ve been talking a lot lately but they’ve stayed out of my relaxed range. And if I focus Sam will be able to feel it, magic or no. They’ll tell us what it’s about eventually. They won’t keep it a secret.”

Stiles sighed. “I hope they’re scheming an idea to get us out of this alive.”

“If anyone can come up with something it’s them.” Derek agreed.

“I better get going.” Stiles sighed, leaning over to kiss Derek goodbye.

“Love you.” Derek smiled as Stiles got out.

“Yes you do.” Stiles said with a grin. “I love you too.”

Derek rolled his eyes and drove off. Stiles turned and walked to join Sam and Lydia on their path to the school.

“What was that?” He asked.

“We’ll tell you tonight.” Lydia told him. “We’re still working out the logistics.”

Stiles nodded and looked at Sam, who looked exhausted. “You alright?”

She nodded. “Last night was tough. We hoped not having you all around would make it easier somehow but it wasn’t. Joe had a nightmare and I stayed up with him and then we fell asleep on the couch only for me to have a nightmare and wake us both up again and we’re both exhausted but yea, I’m alright. Just tired.”

Stiles hugged her tight, leaving his arm hanging over his shoulders as they walked. “You can sleep during our free period. I’ll keep the others away from you.”

She smiled gratefully at him. “Thanks bro.”

Stiles grinned. “Anything for you sister.”

“Hopefully no one will be having nightmares when we’re done.” Lydia said firmly.

“I fucking hope so.” Sam sighed. “It’d be nice to sleep a full night again.”

“We’re gonna be alright.” Stiles said firmly, repeating the words Derek had said to him. “We’ll keep each other safe and everything will be okay. We’re all going to walk away from this.”

Sam smiled at him. “We’ll all be alright.” She agreed. “As long as we stick together.”


	21. Knowledge

“Who the fuck invented this fucking subject with all its fucking Latin and its stupid diagrams and squiggles and its stupidness?!” Isaac exclaimed, throwing his pencil down.

“Smart people.” Chandra told him. “And the Latin roots aren’t hard once you know them.”

“Of course they’re not hard once you know them!” Isaac screamed. “Then you know them and you don’t have to learn them!”

Chandra took a deep breath, keeping her magic in check. “Try again.” She told him, her voice forcefully calm, before turning back to explaining the composition of a cell to Erica.

“This is hilarious.” Stiles whispered to Scott. He was laying in the armchair across the room, head by the floor and legs up on the back rest.

Scott rolled his eyes. He was sitting against Stiles’s chair and doing his math homework. “They can hear you we’re in the same room.”

“I know.” Stiles grinned.

“Don’t you have homework?” Allison asked. She and Seth were laying on the floor a little away with Zach, working on their own biology homework.

“Finished it during free period.” Stiles told her.

“Well go bother someone then.” Zach told him. “We’re working.”

Stiles groaned. “Where’s Derek?”

“Locked up with Sam, Joe, and Lydia in his room.” Scott told him.

“Boyd?” Stiles asked.

“Running patrol.” Erica answered, pouting a little.

“Danny?”

“At work.” Isaac answered, still glaring at his homework.

“Jackson?” Stiles asked as his last hope.

“Running patrol with Boyd.” Scott answered, smirking at his friend. He’d missed being around Stiles in this amount of comfort and being able to tease him. He’d missed the Stiles that got bored so easily and just wanted to bother someone, anyone.

“Peter’s in the old barn.” Erica called over to him. “He’s working on something but he likes you so he’ll probably let you in.”

“Thank fuck!” Stiles exclaimed. He rolled/flailed his way off the chair and onto his feet before racing out, needing to do something other than be bored. He had to stop at the doorway though and throw up his arms for balance as he swayed a little. “Head rush.” He said, slurring a little. The others chuckled as he recovered and ran off.

“He’s going to drive me insane.” Seth sighed.

“You knew he and I were a package deal.” Allison reminded him. “And still are. So you chose that crazy.”

“And I love him.” Seth agreed. “But he’s insane.”

“But he’s our insane!” Chandra said cheerfully.

The other coven members agreed with cheers and then they all settled down to get their work done now that Stiles and his loud breathing was gone.

 

Stiles knocked on the side door of the old barn. It was a part of the original Hale property and as it was set a ways away in the forest it had been saved from the flames. After the fight with Eli, Sam and Derek helped Peter renovate and redo a bunch of it to make it structurally sound again and then helped Peter make it his own little workshop that everyone else was banned from but Stiles was Stiles and Peter liked Stiles so the door swung open and Peter stood there looking at him.

“What?” He asked.

“I’m bored.” Stiles told him. “I was ordered out of the living room because I was stopping the others from doing their homework and Derek’s busy with Sam, Joe, and Lydia and the rest aren’t here to bug so I came to bug you.”

Peter sighed and stepped aside. “Don’t touch any of the metal in the middle. I’ve been blowtorching all day.”

Stiles nodded happily and skipped inside. He stopped and looked around, as he always did. No matter how often he comes in here it’s always different. Peter’s taken up sculpting metal to help him channel his anger and pain and Stiles loves looking at the pieces. He started out just throwing them out but someone saw them in a junkyard and they somehow became popular so Peter sells them now to make room for new ones. So there’s new ones all the time and Stiles loves looking at them. He walked around the barn, looking at all the sculptures, before going to the back of the barn and looking at the two pieces that have never left since Peter made them. And probably never would leave.

One was a twisted piece of metal. It was obvious to anyone who knew Peter was a werewolf that he’d made it with his bare hands. And Stiles’s had been one of the three people to see the bloody mess it had made of Peter’s hands. The others were Derek and Sam. Because when Stiles and Derek had found Peter looking completely exhausted, physically and emotionally, and with his hands shredded to bits they’d called Sam because they didn’t know what to do. No one else has been told what this piece is or why Peter will never let go of it but they know and they understand. Peter made the piece soon after the battle with Eli. Things started to look better for the coven and the pack, but Peter’s old wounds were ripped back open when he saw James mourning for Rachel. He’d blocked the memories of the pain of losing his mate for so long that they’d overtaken him and he’d twisted and torn the metal into its new shape, shredding his hands in the process and not caring because he’d only wanted the memories to go away. He was better now, having been able to talk to James on the phone every once in a while so that they could both have someone to talk to that knew what they were feeling. Stiles couldn’t tear his eyes away from what looked like rust along some of the edges but he knew was dried blood. Peter had refused to let them wipe it off because he wanted to be able to see it and know that he’d finally let go and paid the price. The piece screamed of pain and loss and it was the first time Peter really let his emotions out for everyone to see. He’s had huge offers for the piece as it appears in the background of some of the pictures he has taken of the other pieces but he’s turned them all down. He refuses to sell the piece he made for his wife.

The other piece he refused to sell because of a lot happier reason. He’d taken a whole month on this one, using blowtorches to soften the metal and bend it around itself to make it look like flowing water. Sam had helped him with it, showing him the shapes of Druid runes he’d asked for. Whichever way you looked at it you could see different runes created by the metal, if you knew what the runes look like. Otherwise it just looks like a gorgeous cascade of watery metal coming out of the top of a spiraled trunk of metal bars that split into the falling water. It was Stiles’s favorite piece and he couldn’t help himself as he shifted to his favorite spot and stared at the rune in front of him. It was the rune for family. Stiles reached up and touched the leather cord that always hung around his neck with a smile. The stone he’d marked with Derek and his mark still hung there but now a piece of metal twisted into a ring hung there as well. Peter had given it to him after the battle with Eli, and Derek and him getting together but he hadn’t explained it to him until Christmas. It was Peter’s old key to the Hale house. It had been ruined in the fire but it was the one thing Peter always kept because it tied him to his family. And now it tied him to his new family.

“Stop staring sappily.” Peter ordered. “I can practically smell the sappiness.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, dropping his hand back to his side. “You always have to ruin my appreciation of your work.”

“Stop appreciating and go sit down, you prick.” Peter ordered.

Stiles would’ve been offended but he knew that was Peter’s way of saying he cared for someone. He always teased him.

“What are working on?” Stiles asked as he went over to his usual spot on top of a workbench covered with little bits of metal Peter had torn off. Occasionally Peter makes things from the scraps and sells them for next to nothing to people in need so they can resell it for plenty more and make a profit off it.

“Chandra and Zach’s mating gift.” Peter told him. “It’s traditional for the family of the territory to give a gift of value to the happy couple. We don’t have all that much anymore because nearly everything burned and what didn’t we won’t be parting with, so I figured this would be a good gift for them.”

“They’re gonna love it.” Stiles declared, sure of it. Chandra always praised Peter’s work and he knew she’d love having something Peter made himself just for her and Zach. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to go for the water tree look again, but this time I’m going to make each branch end with one of the love and happiness runes they’ll be wearing during their bonding. And it’s going to be smaller so they can actually put it somewhere.”

Stiles grinned. “They are _definitely_ going to love it.” He knew Chandra was going to ecstatic to have something that screams of the love she shares with Zach.

Peter smiled at him. Peter had started smiling more and it still made Stiles happy to see it. Everyone was healing in their own way and he was very happy he’d chosen to save Peter from those witches over a year ago. Peter really wasn’t mean or creepy at all, just broken. And now he was finally healing. And that made Stiles, and he knew Derek as well, very happy.

“I think it’ll look good.” Peter said.

“Definitely gonna look cool. Especially seeing as you’re making it and you’re amazing at this stuff.”

Peter rolled his eyes but Stiles knew he didn’t mind the constant stream of compliments so Stiles just grinned back at him. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as Stiles watched Peter work. He loved coming in here because he could meditate while Peter worked and he always felt calm as he watched the pieces of metal twist and tear into new, amazing shapes under Peter’s hands. He easily fell into the slow breathing and his power rose to the surface, filling him with easy warmth as he watched.

“You’re glowing.” Peter stated blandly.

Stiles started and looked down. He really was glowing. “Sam said it might start happening as I learn to control all the excess power.”

“Well don’t melt my metal.” Peter told him.

Stiles smiled and nodded. “I promise not to.”

Peter nodded. “Good.” He looked up and cocked his head as if listening. “Sam’s outside. She wants to talk to you.”

“Why?” Stiles asked, hopping off the table.

“It must be time.” Peter answered, more to himself than to Stiles.

“Time for what?” Stiles asked, immediately worried. He remembered Sam and Lydia’s looks this morning when he mentioned them talking to Peter and he figured that was what this was about and he was worried.

“She’ll explain.” Peter promised. “Get going.”

Stiles went outside and sure enough Sam was standing there. He saw her sword strapped to her back and Stiles got nervous. “What’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you about something.” Sam told him. “It’s dangerous and risky and the only thing that could turn this fight in our favor if it works.”

Stiles thought for a moment. “Will it keep them safe?”

Sam nodded.

“Then let’s talk.”

Sam waved him over and they walked into the woods.

“I can’t use magic anymore.” She started. “And that’s a problem because we saw how effective the Light spell was against those kumihos at school. But if I try that again it’ll kill me. So I’ve been talking with the others and we’ve been looking stuff up to use against these things for days now.”

“And you found something?” Stiles asked.

Sam nodded. “Yea we found something that can help us.”

“What is it?”

“The Inferno’s power.”

Stiles stopped walking. Sam stopped a few steps ahead and looked back at him.

“My power?” Stiles asked.

“Not much is known about the Nerakas because you’re so rare. But we found something that could help us.”

“What is it?”

“The transfer.” Sam told him.

“What?”

“I can take all my knowledge and transfer it to you. It will speed your training up and you will be able to Master almost immediately. You’re not in training to be a Druid. You’re a mage. There’s no rules about how long your training has to take. I can give you all the knowledge I have on the Light and you can assist Chandra in the spell during the fight that will no doubt be ahead.”

“But to use Light you have to have it.” Stiles said. “And I wouldn’t be able to get it until the full moon nearly two weeks from now. And we don’t have that time.”

“I can give you the Light.” Sam told him. “I carry it inside me as a Master and teacher. I can give you my Light. It won’t be much use to me for awhile.”

“I can’t take your Light!” Stiles protested. “You need it!”

“And you need it more.” Sam told him. Her face was sad and she looked drained. Even more so than she did that morning. “I can give you my knowledge and I can give you the power of the elements. I can make you strong enough to be what we need for this fight.”

“That could kill you.” Stiles whispered. “Your Light might be the only thing keeping your Cavo’s at bay.”

“I know that. I have been reminded of that plenty since we found this yesterday. But we have been looking through everything we have since Saturday. Four days of constant research by us and Peter and Derek and this is all we found. This is the only option we have. And it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Because I’m the alpha. And an alpha always risks themselves for their pack. It’s what leaders have to do.”

“I can’t take it. I _can’t_.”

“Then we may all die.” Sam said simply. Her face was open and for the first time Stiles could truly see what was going on in her mind. He knew she was scared but he had no idea how much until he looked at her face right then. She was just as scared as he was. Just as terrified of losing Joe as he was of losing Derek. She knew what it could do to her and she was willing to risk it because she needed to know that she at least tried to keep her family safe. She didn’t want someone to die when she could stop it ever again. She was falling apart on the inside and he couldn’t stop it.

Stiles shook his head. “We need you. Your knowledge. Your power. Your comfort. You’re the alpha, Sam. And that does mean you protect the pack. But it doesn’t just mean protecting us physically. We need to be protected emotionally just as much. Maybe even more because of the shit we’ve gone through. You’re needed here.”

“I’m not going to force the power on you.” Sam told him. “But it’s the only thing we have that might save us all.”

Stiles sighed, biting his bottom lip. “What’s the risks?”

“That I could die.”

“That’s it?”

Sam nodded. “You’ll be fine.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“Joe might find it hard to handle. It’s going to weaken the bond I share with him. We’ve been connected for so long I don’t know if either of us remembers how it feels to not be connected as much as we are.”

Stiles nodded. “Okay. I’ll risk it. But if you feel it draining you, you have to promise me that you’ll pull back and stop. I can’t lose you.”

Sam nodded. “We can’t do it tonight. We need certain things to perform the transfer. Peter’s going to leave tomorrow to get them. He’ll be back Friday night and we’ll have to do it then. We can’t risk waiting much longer than that.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Stiles pleaded.

Sam smiled slightly. “Death wouldn’t hurt me Stiles. Life is what hurts. My death stopped being my fear a long time ago. Now I fear Joe’s death. And Chandra’s. And Zach’s. And Seth’s. And Allison’s. And yours. And Derek’s. And even Peter’s. I can’t lose any of you and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. But I promise to pull back if I need to.”

“Thank you.” Stiles sighed, looking relieved that he at least had that.

“We should get back.” Sam whispered. “Derek will want to cuddle you to death. He didn’t like not seeing you when you were downstairs instead of with us.”

Stiles smiled. “He’s great like that.”

“He really loves you.” Sam agreed.

Stiles blushed. “Shut up.”

“It’s true.” Sam grinned. “There’s a reason I didn’t threaten him when he kept to the tradition and formally asked permission to date you.”

“Because he already knows you could kill him?”

“Partially.” Sam agreed. “But mostly because I knew then and I still know now just how much he loves you. I saw a part of him he didn’t let anyone else see when he had a panic attack back when Eli and the giants were moving in and he couldn’t get to you because you hadn’t completely forgiven him yet. I gave him your old sweatshirt to ease his worry and talked him out of the panic. We talked about you and Joe and I asked him why he chose you.”

“What’d he say?” Stiles asked, a little nervous about the answer he might get.

Sam smiled. “He said he didn’t even realize he had fallen in love until the moment his wolf did as well. And he said it seemed like the most obvious choice in the world to choose you over everyone else in the world. Probably because you were the first person he truly trusted outside of his family after that fire. He’s loved you for longer than I’ve known you and I can’t wait till you decide to finish the bond. Because I think it’ll be an amazing event.”

Stiles blushed a little and lunged in to hug her tight. “This is gonna work.” He whispered. “It has to.”

“It will.” Sam assured him, hugging back. “Because I am damn well gonna be there when you marry that wolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd y'all enjoy the Peter feelings in there? I felt like I'd been neglecting him so I wanted to see how he was doing in all of this.


	22. Transfer

Friday after school Derek picked Stiles, Sam, Joe, and Lydia up from school. The others were going to the coven house while they did the transfer.

“Is this going to be dangerous?” Lydia asked. “For me at least.”

“As long as you don’t enter the circle you should be fine.” Sam told her. She was sitting on Joe’s lap and the wolf was holding her tight around her waist so her voice was a little clipped as she couldn’t breathe fully.

“And you?” Joe whispered.

“I told you.” Sam told him, twisting as much as she could to look at him. “I’m going to be fine.”

“I’ll make sure she’s okay.” Stiles assured Joe.

Joe just pouted and nuzzled against the back of Sam’s shoulder.

“Peter’s meeting us there?” Lydia asked, drawing the attention away from the couple.

“Yea he got back an hour ago.” Derek answered.

“He found all the stuff?” Lydia asked.

“Yea he said he nearly died a couple times but he got it.”

“Overdramatic ass.” Stiles muttered.

Derek smiled at him.

“He can be as dramatic as he’d like as long as he has everything.” Sam said.

“Where are we doing this?” Stiles asked. They’d explained the procedure to him over the past two days but they hadn’t decided on a location yet.

“The old Nemeton.” Derek told him.

“Why the old one?” Stiles asked. “The new one has more power.”

“Exactly why we’re using the old one.” Lydia told him. “We found a note in one of Sam’s books about Druids and Infernos that having too much power around during the transfer could affect the process. That’s why Chandra and the others are going to the coven house so they’re plenty far away and don’t interfere.”

“This is starting to sound more dangerous.” Stiles observed.

“It’s not.” Sam assured him. “Not for you at least.”

“Just for you.” Joe muttered bitterly.

Sam sighed and leaned back into him, pressing against her mate. “This is going to work.” She said firmly. “It’s all going to be okay.”

 

Derek parked the car at the pack house and together they all walked through the forest to the clearing of the old Nemeton. Peter was standing next to the old stump, leaning against it with a duffel bag behind him.

“Let’s get set up.” Sam told him, striding over with Lydia and together the three of them started mixing oils, grinding plants with a pestle, making poultices, smearing things on the stump and in around it, creating a circle of runes centered around the stump. Derek saw the tense posture of Joe as the other alpha stood stock still, staring at his mate while she prepared for something that might kill her. He unwound his arms from around Stiles’s waist and walked over to him.

Stiles watched him go and his eyes flashed white as he put up a sound barrier so they could talk without anyone else hearing.

“It’s gonna be okay.” Derek told him.

Joe looked at him. “Really? Do you really think that?”

“Yes.” Derek said firmly. “Stiles and Sam know what they’re doing. It’s going to be fine.”

“Derek, a week ago no one in this clearing even knew that this transfer was something that could be done. I can’t help but be a little pessimistic. She’s my mate. And I might lose her tonight.”

“You’re not going to lose her. You two are going to be together forever.”

Joe smiled and shook his head. “There’s no such thing as forever Derek. Sam and I both know that. We’ve seen too much death to believe in forever. We’re just trying to stay alive.”

“Then she’ll do it. Because she doesn’t want to leave you any more than you want her to leave. She loves you. She’ll do what needs to be done to keep her family safe but you are her mate. You’re her Center. Her everything. Without you she wouldn’t have an anchor.”

Joe looked over at Sam. “You don’t know how it feels Derek. She’s right there and I can see her and hear her and yet she’s not there. Her mind isn’t connected to mine anymore. I can’t feel her in my head like I have for over four years. She’s been the one single constant in this fucking existence I’ve been cursed with and now she’s not there. She’s slipping away and I can’t stop it. It’s like trying to hold sand, desperately trying to keep it in your grasp and having to watch it just slip through your fingers and knowing that no matter how hard you try, you can’t hold it all. It’s just going to keep trickling away until nothing is left and I can’t stop it.” Joe was crying now, the tears rolling down his face as he broke apart.

Derek reached out and pulled the other alpha into a hug, an action he would never have made in September or even in December. But he knew it was what Joe needed right then. “You’re going to hold on.” Derek said firmly. “Sam is not going to leave you. This is going to work and we are all going to walk away from this whole and healthy and _safe_.” Derek didn’t know if he was convincing Joe or himself because he couldn’t say that he hadn’t thought about the risk this was putting on Stiles, not in the transfer but in the battle itself and he was just as terrified of losing Stiles as Joe was of losing Sam.

“I can’t lose her.” Joe whispered, hugging Derek back. “I _can’t_.”

“You won’t.” Derek promised. “You’re not going to lose her.”

“Don’t mean to break up the broment, but they’re done setting up.” Stiles’s voice floated over to them.

Derek and Joe pulled apart to see that everyone was watching them. Sam took in Joe’s tear-streaked face and immediately strode over to pull him into her arms. Stiles flashed his eyes quick and moved the sound barrier to surround them. Derek went back to Stiles’s side.

“I’m not saying goodbye.” Stiles told him. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Derek whispered, pulling him in for a hug anyways. “But I still want to say that I love you.”

“I love you too Sourwolf.” Stiles whispered. “But I’m not going anywhere. And neither is Sam. We’re both going to be fine.”

Derek nodded against Stiles’s shoulder and maybe he held him just a little tighter. And maybe Stiles held him a little tighter in return. Neither of them wanted to say just how terrified they were.

Stiles pulled away and looked at Sam. She was looking back at him, her face streaked with tears to match Joe and she nodded.

Stiles flashed his eyes white and removed the sound barrier.

“We need to do the last steps.” Sam said. Everyone pretended not to hear the shake in her voice.

Sam went over to Lydia and Peter waved Stiles over. He went and looked at the liquid in a small cup Peter was holding.

“That looks disgusting.” He declared.

“Yep. And it’s going on your face.” Peter smirked before dipping a finger in the liquid and starting to draw on Stiles. Both he and Sam had changed into black jeans and white tank tops to allow Lydia and Peter to draw the runes on their faces and their arms. Sam’s hair was in a braid to keep it out of the way.

Derek and Joe stood silently next to each other, trying not to fall apart. They were alphas after all. They were supposed to be strong.

When Lydia and Peter were done their canvases turned and looked at their mates.

“Na razie.” Sam whispered, looking at Joseph.

Joseph was crying again as a few tears escaped down his cheeks. “Damn straight.”

Stiles just grinned at Derek. “We’re so having sex after this. I can’t wait to see how else I can make you scream.”

Derek snorted but nodded. “Stay in control.”

Stiles nodded.

Sam and Stiles looked at each other again and then at the stump. They climbed up on top, being careful not smear anything as they took their places opposite each other. Peter and Lydia retreated from the circle of runes and wards to stand by the two alphas.

“Good luck.” Peter told them.

“Stay safe.” Lydia added.

Both Stiles and Sam nodded before reaching out taking each other’s hands, breathing deep to sink down into their meditation and connect their minds. Both of them shut their eyes and the places where their hands connected began to glow as the transfer commenced.

“It’s starting.” Lydia whispered. “We all have to stay silent now.”

The boys nodded and they stared at their friends and mates on the stump.         

“We call upon our power.” Stiles and Sam spoke together, their voices echoing around the clearing in a way that made their observers shiver. “We bring it to the surface and let it fill our souls.” The glow slowly drifted over their skin, staying strongest in their hands but soon it covered their bodies.

Derek could feel Joe tensing up next to him.

“Air above me. Earth beneath me. Water around me. Fire within me. I am Samella Bledig. I am a Master of the Elements and I call on their power now.” Sam started. “Today I must give my strength and my knowledge to my fellow mage. I cannot perform my duties as a Druid and so I must share with my student, partner, and covenmate.”

“I am Szczepan Stilinski.” Stiles spoke up. “I accept the knowledge of my teacher. I take it as my own and I take on the pain that comes with it. I call upon my elements of water and air to support me as I take fire and earth into my heart, soul, and power, accepting the connection to all the elements as my teacher has.”

Ribbons of light flowed from the center of Sam’s back, reds and blues and grays and greens, all winding around each other as they wrapped around Sam and reached towards Stiles. Both of them sat still as the ribbons wound around Stiles’s arms, stretching to twist around his chest and down to his crossed legs. More ribbons came out of his back, grey and blue, and wound themselves into the ones from Sam, reaching out to wrap around her arms and chest, mimicking her hold on Stiles.

“I share my knowledge willingly and faithfully.” Sam spoke again. Her breathing was beginning to be labored and Derek could feel Joe tensing even more next to him. He longed to tell him it was going to be okay but he knew that he needed to be quiet. Instead he shifted over and bumped their shoulders together. He saw Joe relax a little out of the corner of his eye and knew that that was as good as it was going to get in this situation.

“I accept the knowledge willingly and faithfully.” Stiles responded.

Sam opened her eyes as Stiles opened his and they stared at each other, eyes glowing.

Derek heard Joe’s heart skip as his own did the same. None of them were breathing much. This was the moment when the risks were highest. The transfer of Light.

“I am a Master of Fire.” Sam said.

“I am not.” Stiles responded.

“But from now until the moon you shall act as one.” Sam told him. “I give to you the power. I give to you the gift. I give to you the Light. I empty myself of its brilliance so that you may take my place against the dark in a time when I am weak and cannot hold my place myself.” The center of Sam’s chest, right over her heart, started to glow, brightening as she spoke.

“I accept the power.” Stiles responded, his voice wavering only a little. “I accept the gift. I accept the Light. I fill myself with its brilliance so I may take your place against the dark in a time when you are weak and cannot hold your place yourself.” As he spoke the words his chest brightened. They both sat still as the light in Stiles’s chest grew brighter and brighter as the light from Sam’s chest dimmed, eventually going out altogether.

“I have watched you grow in your power and your life. I have watched the flower of power inside you blossom and flourish with your care and my teaching. And now I impart to you words of advice and wisdom. Never stop learning. For once you know everything, you know nothing at all.”

Stiles nodded.

Both of them closed their eyes again. The ribbons of light around them faded, retracting into the mage they came from. The glow faded from their skin and they dropped their hands into their laps, shoulders sagging and breathing ragged. Stiles flicked his fingers and a breeze whipped through the clearing, breaking the lines of powder on the forest floor. Joe and Derek didn’t hesitate in racing forward to pull their mates back into their arms.

“I’m fine.” Stiles assured Derek, holding him back just as tight either way. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Derek just nodded against Stiles’s neck, taking in the new feel of his mate as he settled into the power he’d just received.

“Sam.” Stiles whispered, looking over Derek’s shoulders to where Joe was clutching the girl to his chest.

“I’m fine.” Sam’s breathless voice answered. “I’m alright guys.”

“Don’t ever do this again.” Joe begged. “For my sake please don’t ever do this again.”

Sam nodded, hugging him tight. “I’m not going anywhere Joe. I promised to marry you and I damn well plan on doing that.”

Joe gave a choked off sound that could’ve been a laugh if he wasn’t so relieved just to be holding Sam again that he couldn’t breathe.

“Well that went well.” Peter said, walking over with Lydia. “So if you two couples need some time we can get the others to the pack house and you can have the coven house to yourself.”

Sam shook her head, pulling away from Joe just enough to look at Peter. There were tears in her eyes again. “We need to be together tonight. All of us.”

Peter nodded. “I’ll get things cleaned up here then.”

“All of us includes you.” Sam told him, running her fingers through Joe’s hair. “You’re pack and you’re coven and you’re not escaping this.”

Peter smiled at her. “Well I know when to fold.”

Sam smiled back at him and then looked at Joe. Her face softened into a look she only ever directs at him, full of love, adoration, fondness, and just a little bit of ‘why the hell do I love this stupid boy so goddamn much?’. “Joe we gotta move.”

Joe shook his head. “Not letting go.”

“You can hold my hand on the walk and we can cuddle in the car and at the house.” Sam told him. “But we need to move.”

“I don’t want to let go.” Joe whined. His voice sounded so broken.

Sam looked across the stump at Stiles. “Bro?”

Stiles nodded and his eyes flashed white as he created another sound barrier around the pair.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Derek told him quietly, looking away as Sam talked to Joe across the stump.

Stiles smiled at him. “So am I.”

“I’m just glad that worked.” Lydia told them. “Would’ve been bad if it didn’t.”

“You didn’t know?” Stiles asked her.

She shrugged. “You never know with these things.”

“They could’ve died!” Derek growled at her.

“Oh can it Derek.” Lydia told him. “Peter’s just as protective of both of them as you are. We worked out the risks and they were minimal. So minimal it wasn’t worth mentioning in the process of making this decision. It was fine. And it worked so it’s even better.”

“She has a point.” Stiles said. “There’s risk in all things, but typically it’s small enough to ignore.”

“I don’t care.” Derek growled. “You could’ve died.”

“But I didn’t.” Stiles pressed. “So it’s fine. Now put the wolf away.”

Derek scowled but the red faded from his eyes.

“Good boy.” Stiles smiled. “Now I am starving so we need food. Preferably now but I know that’s not an option so as soon as possible would be great.” He cocked his head as he heard Sam calling his name from inside his barrier. His eyes flashed and the barrier vanished.

“We’re ready.” Sam told them. Joe was firmly pressed to her side and clutching her arm like she might suddenly vanish but she looked fine, if a little tired, so Stiles was okay. He had been worried about how bad it would affect her.

“Let’s get going then.” Peter said. “We don’t want to still be outside when the sun goes down.”

The others nodded and the group made their way back into the forest. A flash of his eyes as Stiles left had the clearing cleaning itself up from the ritual with quiet efficiency as they walked away. They were okay. They’d survived. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Na razie - See you soon


	23. They're Coming

“Everyone shut up!” Chandra shouted. The living room fell silent, everyone turning to stare at her. Stiles punched the mute button on the TV remote.

“What’s happening?” Derek asked.

“They’re coming.” Chandra whispered. “I can feel them. They’re coming.”

“How many?” Sam demanded.

“All of them.” She gasped, looking at her teacher, fear clear in her eyes. “They’re all coming.”

“Pack outside now.” Derek ordered, getting to his feet. The wolves jumped to their feet, already shifting as they ran out.

“Coven you’re with me.” Sam ordered, getting up as well. Both of them looked strong and fearless but everyone knew better. Everyone knew they were just as terrified as the rest of them.

“I need my bow.” Allison said, rushing from the room.

“Joe go get my stuff.” Sam told her mate. “I’ve got to prepare Stiles and Chandra.

“We’ll see you out there.” Derek said. It was said as a statement but understood as a question.

Sam nodded to him. “Hold them off. Don’t let them hit the wards. Chandra won’t be able to give all in battle if she’s also holding the wards against them. We won’t be able to hold them off.”

Derek nodded. “We’ll give you whatever time you need.” He looked at his uncle, who was still in the room. “Run with me?”

Peter nodded, eyes glowing blue. “I stand at your back nephew.”

Derek kissed Stiles hard before he and Peter ran from the room. They could short orders being issued and then howls as the pack ran for the forest to stop the kumihos advance.

“What about us?” Lydia asked, her and Danny standing in the center of the room, unsure of what to do.

“Stay here.” Sam told her. “Call the Sheriff and tell him what’s going down. Tell him to get prepared. Danny start coming up with a good story and anything we’ll need to make it stick in case we need one. Lydia once the Sheriff is filled in start working on that with him and try and think of a way to get these monsters’ bodies out of my forest when we’re done. And both of you, listen to your guts. Don’t make stupid choices. I don’t want anyone dying tonight.”

Lydia nodded, getting her phone out quickly. As long as she has something to do she’ll be okay.

Joe and Allison came running back in. Allison was changed from the sundress she’d been wearing to tight black clothes that kept her covered. Everyone could see the slight shimmer of the cloth from the spells Chandra and Stiles had embedded in it to keep her safe. She had a bow in hand, a quiver on her back, knife on her thigh, and short sword in a sheath attached to her quiver. All of her weapons had magic embedded in them to help her. Joe had a stack of clothes that shimmered the same way as Allison’s and a small stack of weapons.

 “Chandra. Stiles. Warm up.” Sam ordered, taking the stack from Joe. “You’ll need every ounce of power you have at your disposal tonight. Pull from the wards within the house but not the ones around it. They need to stay powered in case they send some here to look for us. And leave the wards at the basement door intact as well.”

The two mages nodded, closing their eyes to start gathering power as ordered while Sam changed.

Sam looked back at Lydia and Danny. “If the kumihos come, run to the basement. Nothing can get in there, I made sure of it. Even with my lack of power currently, the wards will hold.”

The humans nodded, hiding their fear from their faces but declaring it loudly in the frantic beating of their hearts.

Sam looked at Joe and Seth and Zach, who stood together with fear etched on their faces. “Boys, get ready. We’re leaving as soon as we’re all set.”

They nodded, eyes starting to glow as they got ready, pulling every ounce of energy they had to the surface.

Sam ran from the room to change.

“We’ve got this.” Allison said firmly from where she was sitting in front of Seth. He was braiding her hair so it wouldn’t be in her way. She sounded confident but her hand was white-knuckled around her bow as she held back her fear.

“I hope so.” Stiles whispered. “I’d really rather not die before I manage to graduate. And we’ll be getting our college letters back soon. I’d like to know where I got in.”

The others laughed.

“Always thinking about school.” Allison rolled her eyes.

Stiles smiled, eyes still closed as he gathered his power. “Just trying to ease the tension.”

“Tension relieved.” Sam said, coming back into the room. She was dressed the same as Allison and carried the same weapons, although hers all glimmered with magic as well, especially the arrows extending from her quiver. “We’re all fine. Alli you need to braid my hair.”

Allison nodded. Seth was tying off her hair and then she got up to braid Sam’s.

“What’s the plan?” Joe asked. His eyes were glowing bright and he looked uncomfortable still being in the house while he knew there was a battle going on.

“You’re all running to join with the pack.” Sam said. “Cut off their tails and kill them. Stiles and Chandra your job is to keep those monsters busy so the others can do their jobs. Cut off tails as often as you can but do not overextend yourself and do _not_ get caught up with too many of them.”

“Where are you going?” Joe demanded.

“I have to get to the Nemeton.” Sam told him. “If I can still activate it without my magic, it could be helpful.”

“You’re not going alone.” Joe growled.

“I have to.” Sam said firmly. “You all have jobs to do in this battle. I have mine.”

“You’re defenseless.” Stiles argued. Both he and Chandra had opened their eyes when Sam came back in and both of them had glowing eyes, marking their power gathered under their skin. Chandra’s fingers and arms were flashing in and out of sight as her gift flickered underneath the surface, ready to be used. “We can’t leave you alone.”

Sam glared at him. “I may have given up my Light but I am not defenseless.” Her voice was low and steady and there was a danger in it that sent shivers down the spines of every coven member. “I have my blades and my arrows and I will be fine. I may be human now but I am still your leader and I can, and will, issue an order if I have to. I don’t like ordering you all. In fact, I hate it. But I will. You all must go to the fight. I have to complete my part.”

The others glared at her, teeth clenched, but none of them said anything.

“This is dangerous.” Allison finally said.

“I know.” Sam said. “But it has to be done. I’m still a Master, magic or not. I can get it to help us. I just need time.”

“We can get you time.” Zach said firmly. “And we’ll see when it’s over.”

Sam nodded. “I promise. I’ll see you all when the sun rises tomorrow morning.”

“We need to move.” Chandra declared. “The fight’s begun.”

“Then let’s go.” Stiles said. His eyes were already shifting to white as he prepared to run to join the pack in the fight.

The coven all nodded and the couples shared quick kisses and everyone hugged once before they raced from the house, splitting at the forest line as Sam took off to go to the Nemeton and the rest raced to join the pack.

*

Derek was standing at the front of his pack, Peter at his side, waiting. They’d gone nearly two miles from the coven house and found a clearing to stop and wait. They had no idea how close the kumihos were and no idea if they were even in the right direction, they’d just followed Chandra’s pointed finger into the forest.

“Where are they?” Isaac whispered.

“They’re coming.” Jackson answered. “I can feel them.”

“How?” Erica asked.

“Sam said it had something to do with being a former kanima. Something about being a former creature of darkness being able to recognize them.” Jackson told them. “She said it wasn’t dangerous.”

“Unlike what’s coming.” Boyd said.

“We’ll be fine.” Scott said firmly.

“I hope so.” Isaac whispered.

Scott reached over to grab Isaac and pull him over for a kiss. Erica did the same, grabbing Boyd tightly. Derek looked at Jackson.

Jackson lifted his hands in surrender. “Stiles would kill me.”

“So would Lydia.” Derek told him.

“She’d make Stiles bring me back to kill me herself.” Jackson agreed.

Derek smiled. He looked at his pack. “Break it up guys. We’ve got a fight coming.”

“If we survive,” Erica said as she pulled away from Boyd. “You’re fucking me through the mattress.”

Boyd grinned.

“I will be avoiding the house.” Derek sighed. “Again.”

“I am not allowing you in the barn.” Peter told him, speaking for the first time since they’d reached the clearing. He was facing the forest, eyes glowing as he watched and listened for the kumihos approach.

“They’re nearly here.” Jackson said, interrupting whatever Derek was going to say in response. They all looked towards the forest line where Jackson was watching, faces shifting as they prepared. They all tensed as the kumihos came into their hearing range and they listened as they approached.

“Let none get past.” Derek growled. “We must give the coven their time.”

The others nodded, letting out snarls as they stepped into protective stances, spreading out along the length of the clearing. They were all determined not to let anything by them. And there was no hesitation from any of them as the first wave of kumihos raced from the trees and they dove forward to meet them.

*

Stiles was in front, running right next to Joe as they raced through the forest. He could feel Chandra and Zach behind him, even if he couldn’t see Chandra most of the times he looked back, her gift was letting itself be known. Hopefully it would help in the battle to come. And Seth was behind them, Allison on his back as they raced towards the fight. Soon he heard Joe snarl and knew they were getting close.

“Here!” He called back to Seth. He felt Seth stop and slowed up as well, taking a moment to throw up the wards he had around Allison as Seth dropped her off to find a place to shoot from and then rejoined the rest of them.

“Stay safe.” He called out.

“You too.” Chandra called back. And then they were at the clearing and stopped cold, staring at the battle in front of them. There were kumihos everywhere. Every wolf was fighting for their lives against at least five of the foxes and every time they knocked one away another replaced it.

“Start slicing tails.” Stiles ordered. “Take them down.”

The three shifters snarled and dove into the fray, Zach shifting into a huge cougar that pounced on the nearest kumiho, ripping its two tails off with a whip of his head.

“I’ll get this side, you get that side?” Chandra asked, raising her hands. Her figure was solid now as she grabbed her power in a vice grip, ready to use.

“Go for tails.” Stiles nodded, raising his own hands. “Once the tails are off the wolves can take them down.”

Chandra nodded and her eyes went red as flame shot from her hands, spinning out in huge whips that sliced off the tails of two foxes Derek was fighting and tore the two tails off the fox that nearly had Erica pinned. The affect was immediate as the foxes became human and their eyes widened just before Erica and Derek tore them apart.

Stiles grinned at Chandra’s success as he raised his arms. His eyes went blue and grey as Fog rolled from his hands, drifting across the nearest ten kumihos and before they noticed the fog hardened into spears and sliced their tails off. Jackson, Boyd, and Seth tore the newly humanized foxes to pieces.

Together they moved into the fray, guarding each others’ backs until the pure violent force of the kumihos coming down on them forced them apart.

Chandra let her gift roll into being, disappearing from sight. The only problem was that her fire didn’t vanish so the foxes still knew where she was from where the fire was coming from. But they couldn’t see her so she had the advantage as she took tails off one by one with blades of fire. She’d tangled the vines of flame together into a solid sword of burning fire in honor of her teacher’s skill with a sword. She swung it with ease and grace as she weaved invisibly through the enemies and leaving them human in her wake for the wolves to take down.

Stiles fought in the center of a swirling mass of condensed fog octopus legs that stretched out into the crowd around him. He whipped them through as many tails as he could but most of them were just fending off the foxes around him. They’d recognized him as having the power they wanted and had targeted him with a righteous fury.

Quickly Stiles and Chandra were forced back together by the flood of foxes around them. The kumihos had stopped fighting the wolves entirely except when attacked by them as they saw their target Neraka and their blood boiled with their desire to get to him. Chandra sent out vines of flame from the tip of her sword as she tried to keep the wall of foxes at bay.

“There’s too many!” Chandra shouted as she ducked under a fox, sliced through its tail, and then sank her blade through its heart. Its body fell to the ground at her feet, tongues of flame eat from the wound Chandra had left into the rest of the now human flesh.

“Keep going!” Stiles shouted back. He raised his arms up and shoved them outwards, letting his octopus legs of fog whip through the foxes in front of him. He cut through the tails of ten of them but then he had to bring the arms back in to defend himself again. More foxes were coming from the forest now. They’d been hunting for the Neraka they needed to bring their king back home but one had sent up a call to bring them back to help take down the pack and capture Stiles for their needs.

The pack and the coven shifters were doing as much as they could but they could only kill the ones without tails and it was getting harder and harder for the tails to come off. Allison was in the trees aiming for the tails of the kumihos with the most tails, hoping to weaken them and help her friends in the fight below.

“Sam better hurry.” Stiles whispered. His eyes were just glowing now as he used all the elements he had to fend the foxes off. He had vines of fire, water, and air in his octopus now, he even managed to call up two actual living vines from the earth below him to join his elemental tentacles. He was doing the best he could.

“STAND TOGETHER!” Derek roared, the pack answering with snarls and growls of their own, the coven even joining in with their calls. They weren’t two groups fighting side by side anymore. They were one pack with two alphas and one mission. Protect the mages. Together.

 *

Sam was panting by the time she got to the Nemeton. Without her magic she only had her own body to rely on and it had taken longer than she thought to get here and taken more energy than she thought. It had been to long since she ran without magic. She promised herself that if she survived this she would get back to her roots and her humanity.

She walked over to the Nemeton and laid a hand on its trunk. “Rachel.” She whispered. “If you can hear me, I need your help. Kumihos are everywhere. The entire race is here and they are hellbent on getting to Stiles. I need to keep him safe. And without my magic, I’m useless. So please, I’m begging you. If you’re still here, if you’re still the spirit of this Nemeton and you can hear me and understand me, I need your help. I need to keep our family safe.”

Nothing happened and Sam hung her head, biting her lip to stop the tears welling up in her eyes. Then she reached up to pull the sword from her back. She laid it across the roots in front of her and turned away, looking at the forest. She knelt down and pulled all the arrows from her quiver, laying them on the ground in front of her. One by one she picked them up and fired them into the trees, whispering the same words with every shot. ‘Kill a kumiho and protect my family.’ They whizzed off into the trees, vanishing into the dark. When she was done Sam was breathing even harder, her vision starting to blur. The spells on the arrows had drawn on her life force to activate but she needed to do whatever she could now in case her plan didn’t work. She leaned on the bow as she turned around and struggled to her feet. She left the bow on the roots with the sword and leaned heavily on the tree, her hand just below the black flower of Rachel’s sacrifice to create the Nemeton.

Sam reached down to the dagger at her waist, pulling it out and shifting to lean her head on the tree so she could drag the dagger across her forearm. She bit her lip to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at both the pain and her desperation. The blade dropped to the ground, clanging on the sword and nicking the bow as it fell to lay with them. She rubbed the bloody cut on the bark below the black flower and then put her hand back on it, pushing herself up to look at the branches above her.

“Rachel. _Please_.” She begged. “If you’re in there, _please_ help me. I can’t lose them. I can’t. I won’t survive losing any more of my family.”

Nothing happened once again and Sam sagged against the tree, actively crying now. But then, as she tried to think of what else she could possibly do when her magic was useless and her life force was weakened, a thin vine wrapped on the tree’s trunk reached out to wrap around her wrist. Sam stared at it in shock. Another thin vine joined the first swiftly and together they wound around Sam’s arm, wrapping over the slice she’d made in her arm.

_This will take immense power._ A voice said. Sam gasped as she recognized it as Rachel’s voice. She was here. She was helping. She could’ve sobbed with relief but she held it back.

“I’ll do anything.” Sam declared as firm as she could. “They’re family. All of them. The pack has become ours and we have become theirs. I need them to all be safe.”

_Are you willing to lose your strength? To become nothing more than a hearth witch?_

“If it saves their lives, I’ll do anything.” Sam whispered.

_You would give it all up for the people that pushed your student away? The people that nearly destroyed him?_

“By forcing him away they led him to us.” Sam responded, speaking her mind on the subject with a smile on her face. She’d forgiven them long ago. “Without that, Stiles would’ve never received proper training. I didn’t like them for the longest time but Stiles has forgiven them and that means I must as well. They’ve seen their errors and I have seen mine. We’re family now. We’re together.”

_You have found wisdom._ Rachel’s voice said, sounding approving.

“As I am sure you have as well.”

_Of course. One always learns the rights from the wrongs when one is dead._

“I never meant for you to die.” Sam said, a few tears falling again. “I didn’t think anyone would know how to get through the shield.”

_I had no intent of stopping you. Merely saving you._

“You shouldn’t have. You should’ve let me put that blade in my heart like I meant to do.” Sam said, more tears escaping. “James is lost without you.”

_He is strong. He will be fine. You will not._

“I’ve had Joe supporting me for far too long to lose him.” Sam agreed. “I would rather die.”

_You might die if you do this._

“If I must die so they may live, then so be it.”

She could almost hear Rachel’s smile in her next words. _Open yourself up to me Sam. I will help._

Sam nearly sobbed with relief, nodding as she did as she was bid, reaching deep within her mind to pull open the huge French doors that kept her mind closed off to all she did not wish to enter. “Thank you Rachel. Thank you.”

_As you said, it is for family. And family is to be protected. Good luck. And may the wind carry you where you belong._

“And may only the gentlest of breezes grace your presence.” Sam responded, already feeling the Nemeton reaching inside her mind. She gasped as it felt as if a cold breeze was sweeping through the very darkest corners of her mind, gathering all the spare power it could find before rushing out. She knelt down, the vines on her wrist following and more coming up from below to wrap around her folded legs. Sam felt her vision going dark and her heartbeat slowing.

She could barely see as the roots in front of her opened up and more vines snaked out to wrap around the weapons she’d laid at the foot of the tree and pull them down into the crack.

Just before Sam’s vision went black she heard Rachel’s voice one last time.

_Rest well sister. We will protect your family._


	24. Fight

“Allison!” Stiles heard Seth scream. Stiles automatically looked for Chandra to help him get to Allison but he couldn’t see her as she was using her gift to slip through the foxes and take tails. But he didn’t even have to wait longer than a second before she was beside him. He didn’t even think before they were both swinging towards where he could feel Allison approaching and he and Chandra together sent out their magic to clear a path through the foxes surrounding them. Within seconds Allison was at their side.

“They ran me down the tree!” Allison shouted, keeping her sword between herself and the foxes. Her bow and quiver were gone, probably left in the tree as she fled.

“Keep killing!” Stiles shouted.

“Where’s Sam?!” Chandra asked, flicking her hand to send a fire whip through the seven tails of a fox trying to get at her. Allison ran it through with her sword before the now human fox could do any damage. “We can’t do this without her!”

“We have to!” Stiles shouted back. “She can’t help us! Not now!”

A loud whine echoed through the clearing and Stiles’s vision went red. He knew that was Derek and he knew Derek was hurt. Without even thinking he thrust his hands forward, towards the source of the whine and a huge tornado of fire and fog poured from his hands, incinerating all the foxes in front of him. He finally saw Derek on the ground with two foxes looming over him. He brought his hands together in front him in a huge slam and the foxes were blown backwards, huge spears of earth buried in their chests and their tails burned off.

Derek got shakily to his feet, staring at Stiles.

“How did you do that?” Chandra whispered.

“I have no idea.” Stiles whispered back.

“Can you do it again?” Allison asked. “Or was it just this once because Derek was in danger?”

“I don’t know.” Stiles shrugged. “It may have just been a thing with Derek.”

“Try and do it again.” Allison begged. “We need all the help we can get.”

A sound echoed through the forest and even the foxes stopped fighting to look up in surprise. It was the sound of a hunting horn.

“You?” Stiles asked Allison as the foxes recovered, albeit less forcefully as many turned away to fight the wolves and to face whatever was coming.

Allison shook her head. “I don’t have reinforcements. Not for a fight this sudden.”

“It can’t be Sam.” Stiles said. “She doesn’t have the power.”

“They’re Light!” Chandra shouted. “Wolves! Do not attack incoming! They’re help!”

“Who is it?” Stiles shouted.

“I don’t know!” Chandra told him. “But whoever they are they are pure Light!”

“Well keep killing then!” Stiles shouted. “We have the advantage! Use it!”

 

Across the clearing Joe was staring towards the source of the horn, hoping beyond all hope that Sam would come running from the trees with sparks and fire twirling from her fingers to join them. He knew it wouldn’t happen but he watched anyways. He threw any kumihos that dared to challenge him back towards the rest to be relieved of its tail before he could kill it and kept his watch. And what he saw come from the trees made him throw his head back and howl with joy and fury and strength. The call of an alpha summoning his pack for a fight.

 

The roar of a wolf echoed and Stiles’s heart stopped for just a moment before he recognized it as a call to battle, not a cry of pain. He glanced at Chandra, recognizing it as Joe, and together they moved forward, lashing through the kumihos and escaping out to where the wolves fought. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac fell on the now humans the mages left in their path and Chandra sent up a huge shield for the rest of them, even sending it out to protect the frozen Joseph, as they stared. The kumihos snarled and roared but they couldn’t cross inside. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac joined them shortly. And they all stared.

Stepping from the trees were tree people. Actual tree people. They all had brown bark for skin, solid and healthy with no peeling or abnormalities. They were dressed in leaves and their hair was brown with leaves either stuck in it or growing alongside the hair. It was impossible to be sure. But they all had weapons. Some had gleaming swords. Some had staffs with and without blades on one or both of the ends. And at the front was Rachel. She was wearing the clothes she died in, the blood stain missing from her chest. She held a staff in her hand that had a grey stone on the top wrapped in vines. And she was smiling at them.

“The army of the Nemeton.” Chandra whispered. “It’s real.”

“It’s more than real.” Peter declared, staring at the forest in awe. “It’s here.”

_Hello everyone._ Rachel’s voice echoed through the clearing. The foxes stopped for a moment before leaving Chandra’s ward as they all turned to face Rachel and her soldiers. They snarled and moved forward cautiously. They were beginning to learn that it was dangerous to charge blindly into attacks.

“Rachel.” Joe said her name as a choked off gasp. “How-?” He made a choked sound, as if his throat closed around the words he was trying to say.

_I am sorry but we do not have time for reunions._ Her voice echoed again, her mouth staying closed with a smile on her lips.

Joe nodded, looking at the foxes with a snarl.

“Lower the ward.” Joe told Chandra. “From here on out we fight to the death.”

Chandra nodded and with a flick of her wrist the ward was gone. The foxes were on them again in an instance and the fight resumed.

Stiles spun around, eyes flashing from one color to another as he used all the power at his disposal to rip tails from the foxes. It was getting harder and harder as the foxes learned quickly how to dodge the whips extending from the mages they were circled around. They also learned that while the mages could hurt them, the wolves could not. And soon Stiles and Chandra were merely trying to keep their friends safe. Stiles burned tails off with fire, used thick vines to constrict and hold foxes for the others to kill, clouded vision with fog that then turned into a choking monster that brought the foxes down. But it was the forest people that turned the tide.

The people of the forest dove into battle seeming without a care as they tore into the foxes and the foxes returned the favor. Many of them were falling but more kept coming, ripping the tails from the foxes and tearing out their throats once they were human. Stiles managed to see a few of them take down a fox with eight tails, two of them tearing off four of the tails each while a third removed the fox’s head. He was impressed for a moment before he had to return his attention to the battle for fear of the foxes slipping by.

However even he managed to look up in shock when Allison screamed. The kumiho in front of her had an arrow sticking out of its neck. Stiles ran over as Chandra flickered into sight next to her. Seth joined them in a flash, needing to be next to Allison after her scream. The mages both flung out their power to protect them while they looked at the hunter.

“Are you alright?” Seth demanded.

“I’m fine.” Allison shuddered. “But guys, it still had its tails.”

They looked and sure enough its four tails were still attached.

“I thought they couldn’t be killed with tails still attached.” Seth whispered.

“They can’t.” Stiles confirmed.

“That’s one of Sam’s.” Chandra whispered, staring at the arrow. “She created them herself, embedded spells in them to be activated with a small burst of power. With a single order and her firing them she can send them into any target she wishes and it will kill anything she tells it to. She doesn’t have any magic though. She must be using her life force to activate them. She’s using her life force to keep us alive.”

“She can’t.” Stiles whispered, looking about to cry. “She’ll die.”

“I don’t think she cares.” Allison said, looking at the forest. She watched as a second arrow flew out and embedded itself in a nearby foxes chest. “She’s doing it.”

Stiles, Chandra, Allison, and Seth all stared in silence as one-by-one a quiver’s worth of arrows came from the forest and each one of them killed a fox.

“She can’t have much left.” Stiles whispered when it was done. He was beginning to not be sad as anger took its place. “They did this. They forced her to do this.” His eyes glowed brighter than ever as the tentacles keeping them safe pulled back in around him. He turned from his friends and strode forward into the foxes.

He seemed unstoppable as his anger and desperate need for Sam to not die filled him with emotional power and took his magic to a new level. Sam always said his protectiveness, love, and anger were his most powerful emotions. And he saw now that she hadn’t meant just as an anchor. They were a powerful weapon as well. He killed kumiho after kumiho, tearing the tails off with a pair of tentacles before another pair tore the body apart. At some point he’d risen off the ground, cocooned in a bubble of air, water, fire, and earth as his powers fully expressed himself. He was a hurricane of destruction trying desperately to kill the endless supply of foxes all around him. They all needed to die. They hurt his family and they needed to die.

He felt Chandra step up as close to him as she could without risking her own safety and reached her mind out towards him.

_“Anchor yourself.”_ She spoke inside his head, staring at him with her fire flickering around her. _“You mustn’t let the power control you. You must control it.”_

Stiles snarled, not wanting to listen to anyone. His teacher could be dead right now because of them. They killed her. And he needed to kill every last one of them before he can be calm again.

_“Stiles.”_ Chandra pleaded. _“Think of Sam’s words. Remember what she taught you.”_

Stiles remembered. ‘We are monsters in the eyes of humans. That does not mean we must be monsters in the eyes of our friends.’ He turned to look at Chandra and for the first time ever, he saw genuine terror in her eyes. His anger immediately shot up again. He wanted to kill whoever made Chandra that scared. And then his heart stopped as he realized who it was. It was him. He had lost control. He’d given himself up to his anchoring anger instead of letting it ground him. As soon as the thought ran through his head his eyes went wide and he started yanking his power back in. He kept his eyes locked with Chandra’s as he sank back towards the ground and his power pulled back in to the reasonable number of octopus tentacles around him.

_“Be safe.”_ Chandra implored him. _“We can’t lose ourselves now.”_

Stiles nodded. _“I’m sorry.”_ He whispered. _“I lost control of my anger.”_

_“You’re an Inferno Stiles.”_ Chandra reminded him. _“You can’t afford to lose control.”_

Stiles took a deep breath and nodded again. _“I know. I’ll be fine.”_

Chandra nodded. _“Good.”_

They both smiled at each other and were about to turn back to the battle when another voice caught their attention.

_Stiles. Chandra. You must use the Light._ Rachel’s voice whispered to them. She was nearby sending a fox spinning away from Erica with a blast of air from her staff and straight into the path of one of Chandra’s fire whip. The fox was dead moments later.

“ _I don’t know how!”_ Stiles shouted back towards her mind. He actually did. Sam had told him how to find her knowledge inside himself and search it for what he needs. He knew how to find the spell to use the Light. But he was scared. He was scared of losing himself again.

_Yes you do._ Rachel told him. _You bear the Light and the knowledge of one of the greatest Druids to ever walk the earth. You know how. Dig deep, take hold, and do what must be done. We will not beat them otherwise._

Stiles bit his lip, terrified, but he turned part of his attention inwards, searching for the knowledge Sam gave him in the transfer. He found it quickly, a glowing silver orb near the source of his magic. He popped inside, still paying attention to the battle going on around him so he kept his friends safe. He very nearly got his throat tore out by a fox that lunged too fast for him to stop but it was knocked from the air by one of the forest people. Stiles managed to nod in thanks but he was doing too much otherwise to do anything more. The person smiled at him and nodded in return before rejoining the fray.

Stiles shouted out in glee when he finally found what he needed. “Chandra!”

Chandra stepped up in front of him immediately, flinging a ward up around them. They had to stay safe during the spell. The others would have to survive without their help.

Stiles and Chandra took each other’s hands, their eyes glowing red as they called upon fire and it’s Light.

“We are Masters of Fire.” Their voices echoed. “And we call on our power.”

There was a yell of pain as a fox tore its claws through Seth’s arm before Allison took its tails off with a swing of her sword and Erica tore through its throat.

“We call it up from underneath and bring it to the surface now.” Chandra and Stiles continued. “Our families are in danger and so we fight.” A small ball of light grew in the center of their arms.

Derek and Isaac worked together to tear the tails off a fox and kill it.

“We call on the love within our hearts.” Stiles and Chandra said. Stiles near spat it out with the thought of Derek in danger hanging in his mind. “We use its strength to fuel our power.”

Scott and Zach worked together alongside Jackson and Boyd to draw the attention of four foxes and make the foxes turn towards them so a forest person could dart behind them and slice their tails off. Then they lunged onto the newly human monsters.

“We call on the Flame within our hearts and the Light within our souls placed there by our teacher in love and duty.” The mages went on. The light was getting bigger.

Scott knocked Isaac from under the claws of a kumiho that had snuck up behind the wolf, kissing the other boy forcefully while the fox was dispatched by two of the forest people. They pulled apart quickly, both strengthened by the comfort of knowing the other was still okay.

The ward around the mages dropped as Chandra directed her magic into the spell as they continued it. The ball of light was huge now, filling the space between their arms with its brilliant light. “We call on the strength between us and around us as we give ourselves to our power.”

Jackson dove into the path of a kumiho charging at the now unprotected Stiles, the claws raking across his chest, making him scream as he hit the ground. Derek and Rachel dispatched the fox. Scott helped Jackson crawl closer to the mages so he could be protected has his chest repaired itself. The others gathered closer to defend the mages as they continued their spell.

“We stand surrounded by the Darkness and we must cast it away.” Stiles and Chandra roared, their magic making them loud and powerful. “We illuminate the corners and cast the shadows back into the prison from whence they came! We lock them away never to be released! We give life to the power and we cast you away!” Stiles and Chandra finished the spell by throwing their hands into the air and the ball of light flew up. All of their friends and allies looked away from it as it exploded with power. When they all looked again Stiles and Chandra were on the ground and all the kumihos were gone, sent back to wherever they came from.

Derek and Zach rushed to their mates’ sides, pulling them close to assure that they were still alive. Zach shifted from his cougar shape and pulled Chandra to him. It wasn’t the first time Chandra was glad she and Sam had worked together a while back to enchant Zach’s underwear to survive the shift. The rest of his clothes were in tatters in the woods where he’d shifted. Couples all around the clearing met with tight hugs and kisses and words of assurance that they were okay. Peter went to Jackson’s side.

“You need stitches.” Peter told him.

“I’m a werewolf.” Jackson snarled.

“A werewolf in need of stitches.” Peter told him firmly.

Joe walked over, holding the flesh of his upper left arm together as it healed up. “Is he okay?”

“Apparently I need stitches.” Jackson told him.

Joe smiled a little and knelt down to look at it. “Peter’s right. Sam should be able to-” He stopped and his eyes went ride as he remembered that his mate hadn’t been in the battle. “Sam.” He whispered just before launching himself to his feet and racing into the forest to get to Sam’s side.

“She’ll be fine.” Peter assured Jackson with a small smirk when he saw the look of worry on the younger wolf’s face. He was happy to see that the other beta was worried about Sam. It meant that the groups were finally integrated so much that even when Jackson’s chest was ribbons, he was concerned.

“She damn well better be.” Stiles growled from his spot in Derek’s lap, running one through the wolf’s hair and rubbing the other hand down his back. “I will kill her if she is not for pulling that.”

_We must go._

Everyone looked up, remembering the forest people that had come to their rescue.

“Don’t go.” Chandra begged. “We’ve missed you. Everyone.”

Rachel smiled at her former sister. _I cannot remain. To do so would be to kill Sam. And I have already died for her once. I will not let the same be said of her._

“Will we see you again?” Zach whined. Chandra had been close to Rachel and so Zach had been as well.

Rachel shook her head slowly. _You cannot see me again. It takes immense power to allow us to appear, even for a short duration._

“Who are you?” Jackson asked, tone curt and pain-filled.

_We are the forest._ Rachel told him. _And you have done great wrong to our friend before Jackson Whittemore. You have earned a second chance with your efforts today. Do not waste it._ Rachel looked back at the rest of them. _Goodbye everyone. And may the wind carry you where you belong._

“And may only the gentlest of breezes grace your presence.” Stiles answered softly as Rachel and the others she had brought with her faded away.

“We survived.” Erica said in the silence.

“Barely.” Jackson groaned as he tried to sit up. He gave up with a pained cry and flopped back down. “I can’t get up.”

“We’ll carry you.” Scott said, him and Isaac stepping forward.

Jackson nodded and bit his lip as they picked him up and started carrying him away.

“We should get to Sam.” Chandra said to Stiles.

Stiles nodded. “Joe might need us.”

“We’re coming.” Derek and Zach declared together.

“You should go back to the house and finish healing.” Stiles told them, looking at the claw marks on Zach’s arm and the slash on Derek’s shoulder and all the smaller scrapes and cuts and bruises on both of them that have nearly closed already.

“I’m not leaving you.” Derek growled at him. “I can’t.”

Stiles sighed and his eyes went green as he stared at the wound on Derek’s shoulder. Slowly the edges grew together and healed, leaving a scar but the wound was closed. Stiles sagged into Derek and the wolf held him close.

“You shouldn’t have.” Derek whispered.

Stiles smiled sleepily at him. “I don’t like you hurting.”

Derek sighed but kissed his temple. “We need to move.”

Stiles nodded. Slowly Derek helped him to his feet, both of them supporting the other, and looked at the others.

“We’re fine.” Allison told them with a smile. She had Seth draped over her back with the wolf’s head in her neck. She had a hand wrapped in his hair to comfort him. “We’re shaken up, but we’re fine.”

“Same here.” Chandra announced. Her and Zach were in a position similar to Allison and Seth but Zach was in front of Chandra and she was clinging to his back with one arm and had the other hand twined into his hair.

“I’m coming too.” Peter declared. The rest of the pack was gone, having followed their injured packmate back to the house.

“You don’t need to.” Derek told him.

“Yes I do.” Peter answered, his tone saying there was no room for argument. “None of you know what she has done for me and none of you ever will. I’m coming with. The pack can manage by themselves and not die for a little while.”

“We’re all okay.” Seth whispered, sounding shocked. “We survived.”

“We’re not out of the woods yet.” Derek said. “We have no idea what happened to Sam.”

They all looked up as a howl echoed through the forest. Seth and Zach immediately answered, knowing and recognizing it as Joseph, their alpha. Even Derek felt the urge to answer because of the sound. It wasn’t a happy sound. It was a horrible sound. It was the sound of a wolf in pain. It was the sound of the deepest and most painful loss.


	25. Fallen Warrior

The coven ran for the Nemeton. All of them were dreading what they might find when they got there.

Stiles’s mind was spinning. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. All he wanted was to get to Sam and for her to be alive. He couldn’t lose her. She’d been the only person besides Allison he’d been able to talk to after he split from the pack. She’d sat with him for hours in her wolf form just letting him cry and scream and spark all he wanted to, laying there silently and letting him work it out however he needed to. He hadn’t even been able to do that with Allison. Every time he started crying around Allison she gave him a look of sympathy and as much as he loved her, he hated that look. So he sat with Sam and he cried and he screamed and he worked out everything. He owes her for helping him find his sanity and if he loses her he might lose it again.

Chandra had only one thought repeating through her mind. ‘Sam cannot die.’ Three words kept repeating themselves over and over as she pleaded to any higher power that might be listening for Sam’s safety. She’d spent more than two years running with the other girl, learning from her, and following her into every battle the Ranch was forced into by people invading them. She’d guarded Sam’s back and trusted Sam to guard hers in return. When she first got to the Ranch she’d been terrified of everyone and then Sam had taken her in, introduced her to Zach, got her magic under control, and came into her room every night to chase away the nightmares. It never mattered how tired Sam was, she was there for them. All of them. She can’t be gone. She just can’t.

Zach was panicking. He knew how much Sam meant to Chandra and how much Sam meant to him and how bad it was going to be if she was gone. Sam and Joe were the first people Zach really trusted at the Ranch. When he was abandoned after his pack attacked and then fled from the Ranch in fear, they took him in. He was young and he was terrified to be surrounded by the people that had scared away his entire pack, the people he had grown up trusting. He didn’t sleep for days, not trusting them enough to sleep. He only slept when his body was too exhausted to go on without it. And even then he locked the door and the windows and curled up in the middle of his bed, terrified of being killed in his sleep. Until one day when Sam and Joe came to his room, introduced themselves, and asked to take a walk. He could feel the alpha in Joe and power of a kind he didn’t know from Sam. They’d taken him out to the biggest tree he’d ever seen and explained that it was an Earth Nemeton. And then they’d asked him to sit down and they told him their story. He would never admit it to anyone besides Chandra, but he cried. He cried because he realized that he was not alone. He was never alone. His old pack was long gone, but his new one was right here. Sitting on the forest floor with him and telling him all about their horrible pasts. He’d given his allegiance to Joe then and there. Joe was a wolf but he was an alpha and Zach trusted him. And he trusted Sam. And he was panicking at the thought of the safety net that had been there for him for so long was vanishing and he could do nothing to stop it.

Seth was on the verge of tears. He hadn’t known Sam for as long as Chandra or Zach and definitely not Joe, but Sam was still his leader and he loved her and he didn’t want to lose her. She and Joe had pulled him under their wings alongside Chandra and Zach after his sister died shortly after their arrival at the Ranch. They’d been running from hunters, drawn towards the four Nemetons and their feeling of safety. His sister, Naomi, was shot with a wolfsbane bullet as they reached the barrier. The Ranch pack was there to meet them and scared the hunters away but it was too late for Naomi. None of the healers could do anything. Seth had to watch his sister die in his arms when he couldn’t do anything to save her. He never wanted to feel that way again. That helplessness. That weakness. He never wanted to lose another sister. And he was terrified of losing Sam.

Allison felt like screaming. Her muscles burned from the long fight and her lungs begged for more oxygen than she could give as she ran as hard as she could to keep up with the wolves. Normally she wouldn’t be able to, but they’re injured and so with some effort she can manage. But it wasn’t just her body that was screaming. Her mind was as well. All she could see was Stiles with Sam nearly three weeks after they got the Ranch. They stayed away from most people and most people understood their wishes and stayed away from them. Allison had gone to find Stiles, not knowing where he was, and spotted them together, sitting on a rock overlooking the lake on the Ranch land. And Stiles was smiling. It wasn’t the tight, pained smile she was used to seeing, but a real smile. A happy smile. Sam and all the other kids she called hers had immediately found a place in Allison’s heart. Anyone that could make Stiles smile again was perfect in her books. And she didn’t want to think about what would happen if Sam was torn away. From all of them. She’d seen how important the girl was to Stiles and she knew that it would hurt her just as much it would hurt him. They were a pack and they refused to lose their leader.

Derek and Peter ran side by side, closer than strictly necessary but they needed it. They needed to know that the other was okay and that they were safe. Peter and Derek had never been close after the fire. Before they were good friends but afterwards Derek was wary of his uncle, not knowing if Peter would go mad again like he had when he killed Laura. But when Stiles saved Peter, they’d gotten better. And after Stiles left they came even closer. But it was the fight against Eli that really got rid of all past wariness. They’d fought side by side and kept each other and all of the others safe. More than once they took someone down just before they were about to kill the other and that was enough. They trusted each other again. And they owed it to Sam, who sat them down and made them talk. It was Sam who helped set up Peter’s shop in the old barn so that he could have his own space. It was Sam who explained to the rest of the pack why Peter was so protective and over-bearing and sometimes a little scary. Or a lot scary. She’d explained the pain Peter felt when he lost his mate and his family. Once they understood life became a lot easier for all of them. And they owe it to Sam. They even often thank her for Stiles, having helped him and kept him safe when they weren’t able to do so. Derek’s made a habit of thanking her whenever she’ll let him, which isn’t often, but he makes use of what he gets. Neither of them is willing to lose Sam tonight.

Together they rushed into the clearing, darting around the saplings to stare at their leaders. Joe was on the ground, cradling Sam in his arms, and everyone could hear his crying.

“Is she-?” Stiles tried to ask, his voice cracking. He’d caught sight of the tree behind Joe. And the marks on it. The mark that has been there since the Nemeton’s creation was still there, the blooming flower black against the bark. But below it was now another mark. A shining silver mark pressed into the tree. It was a Celtic knot in the shape of a heart, intricate and beautiful. But Stiles knew what it was. It was the mark of a sacrifice. A very specific sacrifice that can only be made by a warrior. The sacrifice of a warrior made with desperation in a time of great need is a very powerful thing. Love is a powerful thing. Combined they can do wonders. And extending down from the mark was a thin vein of silver that rolled down the tree, across the tightly laced roots, and into the ground where he assumed Sam had been laying before Joe pulled her into his arms, there it pooled in a small circle the size of a tennis ball and stopped.

Joe looked up at them, face streaked with tears. He opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out but for a broken, painful sound. He bowed his head for a moment and then Derek, Seth, and Zach were gasping.

“She’s alive.” Derek whispered sounding both relieved and sad at the same time. “I can hear her heartbeat.”

“The mark.” Stiles choked out.

“She didn’t sacrifice her life.” Chandra whispered. “She sacrificed something else.”

“What?” Allison begged to know. There were tears on her face. On all their faces.

“Her magic.” Joseph whispered, speaking for the first time. His voice was broken and weak and he sounded like he was in great pain as he held Sam’s body close. “Sam gave up her magic to summon the forest army of the Nemeton.”


	26. Together

“How is she?” Stiles whispered as Joe came back into the living room.

Joe looked at him and Stiles could see the pain in his eyes. “She’s still out.” Joe whispered, his voice breaking.

“There has to be something we can do.” Lydia stressed. She was pale and her eyes were frantic. She’d nearly screamed so many times during the battle and everyone could see the half moons covering her arms from where she kept digging her perfectly cut nails into her skin to anchor herself and stop herself from screaming. There was one set of nail marks deeper than all the others, from when she’d felt Jackson get his chest torn open. It had taken all of Danny’s natural calmness and knowledge of Lydia to keep her calm and centered when that happened. And even now she’s holding back a scream for the girl upstairs from the danger she’s in and the worry Lydia still has for Jackson. The boy was laying on the floor with his head in her lap with a poultice on his chest over the carefully done stitches of Chandra that’s drawing the kumiho venom out so he can heal. She has one hand in his hair and the other digging into his shoulder, using him and the heartbeat she can feel under her fingers to keep herself anchored. She looked ready to fall apart but for Jackson’s hand reaching up to lay on top of hers on his shoulder. He was okay and Sam was going to be okay and as long as she just kept repeating those words in her mind, she’d be okay.

“There’s nothing.” Chandra said. She was curled up next to Zach. Zach’s shirt was soaked with tears but Chandra wasn’t crying anymore. Now she just looked defeated and sad. When she’d joined Sam and started learning from the girl, she’d seen her teacher as invincible. Sam was the strongest person she’d ever met, besides May, and she’d saved Chandra so many times. She wanted to fight for Sam, to return the favor for all the times Sam has saved her, but she knew better than anyone that there was nothing left to do. Nothing that wouldn’t get her killed by Sam for risking her life to do. “She made the warrior sacrifice. There’s nothing we can do.”

“What even is that?” Erica demanded, albeit in a quiet voice. All of them kept speaking in quiet voices, as if worried that speaking too loud would hurt Sam. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“It’s a sacrifice made by a warrior.” Stiles started.

“Yea we got that.” Jackson said, wincing as the breath to speak pulled at his wounds.

Stiles glared at him.

“Sorry.” Jackson blushed.

Stiles sighed. “It can only be made by the strongest of mages or Druids. Only those powerful enough to use it can know of it.”

“How do you know then?” Isaac asked. “Did Sam teach it to you?”

Stiles shook his head. “She shared her knowledge with me. Of all the elements and the abilities I have as Master of all of them. One of the things in my head now is the warrior sacrifice.”

“If you ever make it I’ll kill you.” Derek growled, holding Stiles closer. Everyone was feeling the need to have their mates close after the battle and Derek wasn’t an exception.

Stiles looked up at him and smiled before kissing his jawline quick. “I won’t.” Stiles promised.

Derek nodded but still buried his face in Stiles’s hair after Stiles tilted his head back down.

“What is this sacrifice?” Lydia asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s one of the best kept secrets of mages and Druids.” Chandra told him. “Only those who need to know are told of it.” She sighed. “Basically the typical sacrifice is the mages or Druid’s life. They give their life to the Nemeton and in return it releases its army within on whatever is harming the friends and family of the mage or Druid sacrificing themselves.”

“Army?” Boyd asked.

“You saw it tonight.” Stiles said. “Every Nemeton contains the spirit of the mage or Druid that died to create and consecrate it as well as other warrior spirits drawn to it from the area. Ours was Rachel and the spirits that used to live in the old Nemeton as well as any other mage or magic warrior that died in the area and left a piece of their power behind. They’re all drawn in to be a part of the army. They are very powerful and it takes a lot of power to release them from the Nemeton. Hence the typical dying of the sacrificing mage or Druid.”

“But Sam isn’t dead.” Joe whispered.

“She didn’t give her life for the army.” Chandra confirmed. “She gave her magic.”

“Her magic was that strong?” Jackson asked quietly in awe.

Chandra nodded. “Sam is,” her voice cracked. “ _Was_ one of the strongest Druids to ever walk the earth. She was a Master of the Elements, carrier of the shifting gift, mate to an alpha werewolf, and she was what’s known as a Kavana. A mage of Old. Her power was passed down through her family for centuries. She was as strong as they come. And that power is equal to the entire life force of any other high-power mage.”

“I never knew.” Isaac whispered.

“She didn’t tell people.” Zach told him. “She only tells people she can trust because otherwise she becomes a target for everything.”

“And now she won’t.” Scott whispered.

Joe let out a keening whine that had all of them wincing. They could all feel the pain rolling off of the alpha wolf. Even the humans could feel it.

“Is it even possible for her to give her magic up?” Danny asked. “Doesn’t she need it for her Cavo’s?”

“If she doesn’t have her magic, she doesn’t have Cavo’s.” Stiles answered. “Cavo’s is centered in the magic. Giving that up tore her Cavo’s out as well. She’s okay.”

“Not okay.” Joe hissed. “I can’t feel her. It’s like she isn’t even there.”

“She is.” Chandra assured him. “You’re just feeling a human-werewolf bond instead of one to a very powerful Druid. The bond is there but it is a lot weaker now. But it is still there and she is still your mate.”

Joe nodded, keeping his head down. Everyone with super-senses could smell the salty tears flowing again.

Chandra and Stiles immediately got up and left their mates to sit down next to Joe and pull him into a hug. Allison joined quickly. Together the three of them wrapped Joe up completely, doing all they could to comfort him.

“What happens now?” Lydia asked quietly. “Are the kumihos gone?”

“They’re gone.” Peter confirmed, speaking for the first time. Everyone could tell he was finding it hard to handle watching Joe deal with Sam’s condition. It reminded him a lot of his own pain. “Chandra and Stiles banished them back to their prison with their spell. They won’t be coming back any time soon.”

“Well at least that’s good news.”

Everyone looked up to see the Sheriff at the door in his uniform.

“Am I to take the lack of news as a good thing?”

Stiles squirmed from the girls and Joseph to run over and hug his dad tightly.

“Whoa.” John said, wrapping his son in a hug in return. “What’s got you so huggy?”

“Sam made a sacrifice to help us tonight.” Derek explained. “She used her magic to call on the small army that resides in the Nemeton to help us. We probably wouldn’t be here without it.”

“But?” John asked, knowing that there was a big but coming to make his son this clingy.

“But Sam gave up her magic to do so.” Zach whispered, he’d moved to kneel next to Chandra, a hand on her back to sooth her while she soothed Joseph.

“And that’s not good.” John guessed.

Zach nodded.

John sighed. “How bad is she?”

“She’s not waking up.” Lydia told him. “And her heart keeps faltering. That’s what has us worried.”

John nodded and looked at Stiles as he pulled away. “Are you okay?”

Stiles nodded. “I’m fine. It’s Sam we’re worried about.”

John nodded again, giving his son a reassuring smile and another squeeze before pushing him back towards the coven. John knew that’s what his son needed then. He looked at Derek. “I trust you kept him safe.”

Derek smiled and nodded. “I did.”

“Good.” John smiled. “I’ll need a run down and an explanation for the bright flash of light that went off in the forest during what I assume was your fight, but that can wait until Sam’s awake.”

“I’ll be right back.” Peter muttered, getting up and leaving the room.

John watched him go and turned a curious look to Derek.

“He’s remembering the pain of losing a mate. Again.” Derek explained. “He’ll be okay.”

“What the hell is he doing?” Joe whispered, looking up and towards the door.

“Joe?” Stiles asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Peter just went into our room.” Joe whispered. Then his eyes widened. “He can’t!”

Joe shot to his feet, knocking the others aside as he ran for the door. The others chased after him. Together Joe and Stiles burst into the bedroom Joe and Sam shared and stopped cold. Peter was sitting at Sam’s side.

“Uncle don’t.” Derek begged, having an idea that he did not like. “I can’t lose you.”

Peter looked over his shoulder and smiled at Derek. “You’re not losing me. I’m not doing what you fear.”

“Peter don’t risk anything.” Stiles hissed. “We will not be able to stop Joe from killing you if you hurt Sam.”

Peter smirked and looked at Joe. “Do you trust me Joseph?”

Joe hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Don’t hurt her.”

“I won’t.” Peter promised. He looked back at Sam and picked up her hand in both of his.

“Sam.” He whispered. “If you can hear me, I need you to relax. I am not going to hurt you, but the less fight you but up, the less power this will take. I know the risks of this. I know how dangerous this is. But I am going to do it and if you drain me, so be it. They need you. Now more than ever.” Peter took a deep, shaky breath. He rolled his shoulders, settling in and staring at Sam’s face. “Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” He whispered, his eyes glowing blue. “I cast my mind out to yours and I call out to you. Your mate needs you. Your coven needs you. Your friends need you. I call out to you for them. And for myself. You are a rock that holds us up. You are one of the support beams of the house we share. You are the glue that helped bring us together. You helped me leave my past behind and see the future for the first time in years. You must not leave us now. So I call out to you. I beseech you, I beg you, please come back to us. You cannot stand without our support. You cannot stand without our leaders. Without you. So I call out to you. Come back to us Sam. You’re needed here.”

The glow faded from his eyes and he sat still for a moment. Nothing happened. And then Derek stepped forward. His eyes were wide in shock, realizing what Peter was doing. It was dangerous. Very dangerous. And yet Derek knew he had to help. This was Sam. The person who saved his mate and helped make this pack, for they really were one pack, and Derek was not going to let her go easily.

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” He spoke loud but his voice was nervous as his eyes started to glow but he had to try. He had to do what he could to save her. “I cast my mind out to yours and I call out to you. Your mate needs you. Your coven needs you. Your friends need you. I call out to you for them. And for myself. You have become my friend and ally through these months and I owe you a great debt of gratitude for helping my mate when I could not. So I call out to you. You have helped the pack and your coven come together again. To be whole again. I call out to you because you are needed here. Come back Sam. We need you.”

Once again there was silence, and still nothing happened. Derek stepped back behind Stiles and Joe, head bowed. Stiles took his hand. “You did good.” Stiles whispered reassuringly, seeing the frustrated tears in Derek’s eyes. He wasn’t strong enough to help her and he hated himself for it. And then they all watched as Joe stepped forward. He walked over to the bed and he sat down next to Sam. Peter stood up and stepped away, leaving Joe and Sam alone on the bed. Joe picked up Sam’s hand and kissed her knuckles before talking a deep breath and letting the red alpha glow take over his eyes as he spoke.

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” Joe whispered. His voice was shaky but his words were confident. He knew what Peter had done. Knew what Peter had risked. And now he was willing to risk the same. He had to. He needed Sam here, at his side, heart beating, eyes open, mouth smiling, because that was where she belonged. “I cast my mind out to yours and I call out to you. We need you here. We all need you. Stiles. Chandra. Zach. Allison. Seth. Derek. Peter. Lydia. Danny. Jackson. Erica. Boyd. Isaac. Scott. We all need you. _I_ need you. For the past five years you have been at my side through everything. We stood against Eli together. We escaped from him together. We survived our time in Harmony together. We found the Ranch together. We joined a pack and found a new family together. We’ve faced demons and witches and warlocks and every manner of supernatural thing together. We’ve always stood together. And now I call out to you. Because you are not here and it hurts. It hurts so much. You are my best friend. My partner in prank wars. My mate. My everything. You’re needed here. So I call out to you. Because we made each other a promise so many years ago. And I intend to make you keep it.” Joe took one hand off of Sam’s and reached into his pocket, not taking his glowing red eyes of her face. And he pulled out the leather strap and stone that Sam wore as their mark. “You asked me to keep this safe for you while you shared your knowledge with Stiles. And I did. I didn’t have time to give it back before the fight started. But I’m giving it back now. Because you promised to always be there when I needed you. And I need you Sam. I need you so fucking much. So get your butt back here. We need you.”

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” Chandra announced as Joe finished, her eyes glowing bright. Her voice was shaking with worry but she knew what was happening, recognized the risk, and was going to be a part of it, no matter the risk.

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” Zach repeated, already knowing what Chandra was doing and he was determined to help as much as he could. His eyes joined the glowing sets around the room.

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” Seth repeated firmly, eyes going gold. He didn’t know what was happening but he knew it might save Sam and he was determined to help if he could.

“Samella Bledig, I call out to you.” Allison joined in. Her eyes didn’t glow but her face went pale as she felt the power take her into the web. She’d never felt something like it before.

The words were repeated by everyone and then Chandra said them again. And again. And again. Soon it morphed into ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and together the coven and the pack called out to their missing friend. Together they reached out with their wolves, their inner-cat, their magic, their humanity, and they called out to Sam, begging her to come back. And slowly, her breathing got louder, her heartbeat got faster, and then she opened her eyes.

Everyone gasped and rushed forward as they saw her eyes open and a tiny smile crack on her face.

“Y’all are loud when you need to be.” She muttered softly. She looked towards Joe and smiled. “Smart tactic guilting me with that damn promise.”

Joe smiled, eyes teary, and dove forward to hug and kiss her. Sam laughed a little, hugging him as tight as she could in her weakened state and returned his kisses, albeit a little more sleepily. When Joe was a little calmer he just curled up at her side, head on her chest so he could be as close as possible.

Sam smiled fondly at him and started running her fingers slowly through his hair before looking up and smiling at the others. “Derek. Peter. Thank you.”

Both Hales nodded, acting as if it was nothing.

“Stop blowing it off.” Sam ordered them. “Peter, I know the risks of starting the call and I thank you for starting it. But don’t ever do it again. It would kill your nephew to lose you and that would kill Stiles and then I’d have to hunt your ghost down to kill you myself for hurting one of my boys. I’m not worth their pain.”

There were immediate shouts of protest but Peter raised a hand with a smile and they stopped.

“It does not matter how much you value yourself, each of us knows how important you are to all of us.”

Sam smiled. “Well you may be right on that. Either way, thank you for opening the path.” She looked at Derek. “And thank you for understanding what needed to happen.”

Derek smiled at her. “It was a group effort you know.”

“I know.” Sam smiled at the others. “Thank you. All of you. Thank you for helping me come back.”

“I really had no idea what we were doing but it seemed like a good plan.” Isaac grinned.

Sam laughed. “Well thank you then Isaac. For following the leaders.”

“Does someone want to explain what that was though?” Danny asked. He was breathing heavy from the power web he’d jumped into as well.

“We just risked madness or death to bring Sam back.” Stiles told him with a smile.

“What?” John asked incredulously. He was the only one who hadn’t spoken during the call, unsure whether or not he could.

“The warrior’s sacrifice tore out Sam’s magic.” Chandra explained. “And when a Druid is drained of their power, we shut down. We’re sucked into the inner-most regions of our minds to protect us from whatever has sucked the magic from us and we stay there until we’re called back to the surface. Or until we die.”

“More often than not, we die.” Sam whispered.

Joe whimpered and Sam shushed him gently, tugging his hair a little to remind him that she was still there and okay.

“Initiating the call is one of the most dangerous things.” Chandra kept explaining. “To do it you have to cast the inner-most regions of your power out towards the Druid and hope that it will pull the Druid to the surface.”

“What happens if it doesn’t?” Isaac asked. “What did we just risk?”

“If the Druid is still connected to whatever drained their power or if the Druid is too deep, the people calling out end up losing their selves into the Druid.” Chandra told them. “And with the amount of power Sam has, it was a huge risk. Druids as powerful as her can turn into basically a black hole for power, sucking everything it can into them until the Druid dies. And if that were to happen, we’d either go mad or die.”

“Without our centers to unbalance us, we become unstable.” Stiles continued, spotting a few confused looks as to how losing their power would kill them or force them into madness. “An unstable mage typically goes mad, craving whatever power we can to replace what was sucked away by the Druid’s center. And shifters typically die because your animals are so closely intertwined with yourselves that you die without them there to help your body survive. Either way usually ends in a slow, painful death.”

“That sounds delightful.” Jackson muttered. He was leaning heavily on Lydia, who looked paler than she did before because both of them had joined the call, despite Jackson not having much spare power to use to call out.

“It was for Sam.” Seth said firmly. He looked at his leader with a smile. “And I’d do it again. Even knowing the risks.”

Sam smiled at him, eyes heavy but still open. “Thank you Seth. But if any of you _ever_ call out again, I’ll kill you myself. It’s way too dangerous. It should never be attempted.”

“Except by those with nothing to lose.” Peter tried. He was leaning up against the wall, face pale. He’d been affected the most by the power web between them all that had called Sam back. Starting it took a lot more power than he’d thought.

“Not even you have nothing to lose.” Sam told him firmly, tears sparking in her eyes. She hated the thought that someone else nearly died to save her. She already felt she had too many deaths on her total. “You have us. And like I said, you have Derek. Don’t ever do it again.”

Peter smiled a little. “Don’t ever make me again.”

Sam rolled her eyes but she was smiling fondly. She knew that was the best she’d get from him.

“You know what this all means?” Stiles asked with a grin.

“What?” Chandra asked him. “That we nearly risked our sanity and/or lives to bring Sam back after she saved all of us with the forest people? Because I think we all know that.”

“We just did something together. We fought together. We worried about Sam together. We brought her back together. We’re actually together now.” Stiles was grinning. “We’re _together_.”

The others grinned as the words sank in and they looked around at each other, excited and happy. They all looked exhausted but happy. They were a pack. Derek looked at Sam with a grin.

“What do you say?” He asked.

Everyone quieted to look between the two leaders.

“To what?” Sam asked with a smirk.

“Two leaders, one pack.” Derek responded.

Sam grinned. “I think that sounds like an amazing idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a couple more chapters. Hope you guys enjoyed this big one!


	27. Aftermath

Sam limped through the trees, leaning heavily on the twisted branch she’d picked up at the edge of the forest. She was breathing heavy and moving slow but she didn’t stop or call for help. She wanted to do this on her own. She grunted and grimaced as she pushed herself over a fallen tree. Her body ached and she could barely stand the day before but she couldn’t let herself stop. She was determined to finish what she’d started.

By the time she reached her destination she couldn’t hold herself up anymore, falling to her knees in front of the Nemeton.

“Hello Rachel.” She gasped, trying to catch her breath. “You were right. Like always.”

Sam looked up at the twisted tree, eyes locking on the silver mark in the tree.

“I’m here to complete our promise.” Sam told the tree. She reached out and laid a hand over the silver vein in front of her. “My name is Samella Bledig.” She said, breathing heavy. “I made the great sacrifice and I survived. I thank you for your help and promise to come to your aid the next time you call.” Sam sighed. “Well, it’s done Rachel.”

She winced slightly as she moved to sit more comfortably.

“It’s more painful than I thought it would be. Being human.” Sam smiled a little, her breathing evening out easily in the healing power of the tree. “But I don’t regret it. Not one little bit.” Sam dropped her head back down, tracing a hand over the roots in front of her. “I’m glad you liked the weapons. Keep them safe for me.”

She glanced down at the marks on her right arm. Extending up her arm, over the scar from the wound she’d self-inflicted to give the tree her power, there were red welts from the vines that had wrapped up her arm to connect her to the tree. On her left arm there was a matching set from when she fell to the ground and the tree reached out even more to get a better connection. The marks would never go away. They were the marks of her sacrifice.

“I don’t even mind these much.” Sam admitted. “Although I’ll need to figure out some sort of story for the human world. But that can come later. For now, I’ve got friends and family to handle. Joe’s clingy again and mad at me for risking myself, and I’m worried about Peter seeing the pain of mate loss again and how that’s going to affect him, and I’m terrified of what’s going to come next. The last year has been hard and I have a feeling it will only get worse and I’m terrified of losing my coven. I’m terrified that without my magic I’m not going to be able to protect them.” She closed her eyes, biting back tears. “I can’t lose them. They’re all I really have anymore.”

She didn’t start as arms wrapped around her. She knew he followed her out into the woods. She opened her eyes to find Stiles wrapped around her.

“Hey Stiles.” She smiled, lifting a hand to hold Stiles’s arm.

“Hey.” Stiles whispered.

“You can tell Scott to come out now too.” Sam told him.

Stiles laughed and pulled away. “Scott!” He called. “She knows you’re there!”

There was a splutter in the woods and Scott stepped out. “How?!”

“I told you she’d know.” Stiles grinned.

“She doesn’t have magic anymore!” Scott exclaimed. “How the hell could she have known?!”

“Women are magic dude.” Stiles said as if it were obvious. “Even non-magical women.”

“He’s right.” Sam grinned slightly, still tired from her walk. “That and I heard you two talking on the walk out.”

“I told you she’d hear us!” Stiles exclaimed.

“You were the one being loud!” Scott shot back.

“And you were the one you ordered me to shut up! She knows those kinds of things.”

“Come sit down.” Sam ordered Scott. “And do try to be civil. This is a sacred place.”

Both of them ducked their heads, blushing a bit as Scott came to sit beside Sam.

“You were talking to it.” Scott observed. “Why?”

“Because she can hear me.” Sam smiled.

“She?” Scott asked.

“Every Nemeton has a spirit inside.” Stiles explained to him. “For newer ones it’s the spirit of the mage that died to create it. The oldest ones occasionally have a newer spirit that let the original spirit go to its rest and took its place.”

“So Rachel’s here?” Scott asked, amazed.

“She’s here.” Sam confirmed. “You saw her at the battle.”

“I just thought it was part of your sacrifice thing.” Scott admitted.

Sam chuckled, tracing the silver line across the tightly woven roots. “My ‘sacrifice thing’ gave the spirits the power to leave the tree and enter the corporeal world to help you guys.”

“Why’d you do it?” Stiles asked softly.

“Because I was already useless.” Sam answered with a shrug. “I couldn’t do anything in the fight. But I could do this and so I did.” She leaned over and rested her head on Stiles’s shoulder.

“You scared Joe.” Stiles told her softly, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on hers.

“I know.” Sam sighed. “We talked yesterday when I couldn’t get out of bed without help. He’s mad at me for putting myself in danger. I think he also said again there.” She sighed again, tears pricking in her eyes. “I hate doing this to him. I hate making him worry. I hate knowing that I’m the reason there’s bags under his eyes again and he hasn’t slept well for months worrying about my Cavo’s getting so bad and then losing my magic entirely.” She bit back tears. “I hate knowing it’s all my fucking fault and I hate knowing that I’d do the same damn thing again just to keep you all safe.”

“You have a bad habit of putting us before yourself.” Stiles agreed.

“It’s a good trait though.” Scott told her. “Just maybe a little less.”

Sam laughed. “So should I become like you and think of myself before my best friend?”

Scott blushed. Stiles hit her shoulder.

“He’s been forgiven for that.” Stiles scolded her.

Sam smirked. “I know. I forgave them all. But forgiving isn’t the same as forgetting.”

“She’s right.” Scott said, stopping Stiles with a look.

“You’ve made up for it.” Stiles protested.

“I know.” Scott smiled. “But we still can’t forget it. “It shouldn’t be forgotten. Ever. We made a mistake and all of us learned from it. We don’t want to forget because we never want to hurt you like that again. Any of you.”

“That’s why I forgave you.” Sam stated. “Because you know you did wrong and won’t ever do it again.”

“And Joe?” Stiles asked. “Is he going to forgive you for endangering yourself again?”

Sam nodded. “He always does. I hate putting him through all this again. But I had to. I couldn’t let any of you get hurt.”

“And you’re human now?” Scott asked.

“I’m a hearth witch.” Sam corrected.

“What’s that?”

“A human with an aptitude for magic.” Sam explained. “I’ll be able to mix potions and poultices and medicines that will work better than if a human mixed them. But I have no magic to do spells and the like.”

“How do you defend yourself then?”

“Weapons.” Sam told him. “I’m a master at most but I’ll have to brush up on them. I haven’t needed to fight with weapons since I became a Master.”

“Allison’s gonna help her though.” Stiles jumped in.

Sam nodded with a smile. “She’s looking forward to it I’m sure.”

“Didn’t you have weapons that night?” Scott asked. “I mean you had a bow to fire those arrows and I’m pretty sure someone else said something about blades. Where did they go? No one brought any weapons back with you.”

“They’re right here.” Sam declared with a smile.

“Where?” Stiles asked, not know what she meant either.

Sam tapped the roots in front of her, her fingers trailing over the silver trail. “Here.”

“In the tree?” Scott asked.

Sam nodded. “To activate the spirits you have to give them weapons. I laid my sword, my bow, and my dagger on the roots to help the spirits when I gave them power. And when I was connected to the tree, the roots opened up and took them in.”

“So they’re stuck there then?” Scott asked. “Forever?”

“Unless another mage summons them up.” Sam confirmed.

“Why?” Stiles asked, not knowing himself. Sam gave him her knowledge but it’s still separate in his head and he can’t access it all yet.

“It’s a warrior’s sacrifice.” Sam reminded them. “A warrior’s grave is usually marked with their weapons. By giving them up, we are symbolically laying aside and giving up our warrior status. In doing so, we become nothing more than a normal, regular person. We don’t get honors. We don’t get medals. We don’t get awards. We merely get to die knowing that our friends and our families will live on.”

“That’s depressing.” Stiles declared.

Sam snorted. “Yea. A lot is lately.”

“But you didn’t die.” Scott pointed out.

“I’m aware of that.” Sam smiled. “But it’s the same idea. I gave up my power. I gave up my status as a Druid. I gave up my title of Kavana. I gave up my gift.”

“You can’t shapeshift anymore?” Scott asked.

“How would I?” Sam asked. “I don’t have magic.”

“What happened to it?” Scott asked.

Sam shrugged. “It could’ve just died out when there was nothing left to power it. IT may still be inside me, lying dormant until a time comes when I have a kid and pass the gift down, leaving them with it lying dormant until they Master and activate it.”

“Ooooorrrrrrrr…” Stiles drawled with a grin.

Sam smiled. “Or there is a possibility of me having passed it on to Stiles.”

“Stiles might be able to shapeshift?!” Scott exclaimed.

“Once I Master.” Stiles corrected him. “I won’t have enough power or knowledge to unlock it until I Master. But afterwards, there’s no telling what might happen.”

“So you might be able to turn into a wolf eventually?” Scott asked in shock.

Stiles nodded happily. “Isn’t it awesome?”

“Calm down.” Sam smiled fondly. “You should both be thanking Rachel. Without her, none of us would be here. That much I’m sure of.”

Stiles and Scott both nodded.

“Thanks Rachel.” Scott smiled. “I know you probably hated my guts before your death, but I hope I’ve made it up to you. I really do love Stiles and I won’t let anything or anyone hurt him without going through me first.”

Stiles smiled at his friend and then up at the tree. “Hey Rach. It’s been hard since you died. James isn’t doing well but he’s getting better. Anna and him are getting close. And hopefully they’ll be able to help each other start healing. Derek’s been amazing and I’m doing amazingly well. I have you to thank for that. Twice over. You saved Sam and then you saved all of us. So thank you. I don’t know where we’d be without you.”

Sam smiled, reaching out to pull Stiles into a tight hug.

“I told you day one.” Sam whispered. “I ain’t ever leaving.”

Stiles smiled, squeezing Sam as tight as he could without risking hurting her. She was still too weak from her sacrifice for a full squeeze. “I know. But that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”

Above them the branches of the tree moved and a small flower floated down, landing in front of them as Sam and Stiles pulled apart.

Sam chuckled a little as she picked it up. “Red and white rose.” She whispered, tracing a finger along the dual-colored petals.

“What’s it mean?” Stiles asked, knowing Sam would know.

Sam smiled. “Unity. Rachel’s telling Scott she forgives him too, saying you’re welcome to you, and telling me that it’s time to put my past behind me. There’s nothing more I can do about any of it. It’s the past and it’s time to move on.”

“You got all that from a flower?” Scott asked.

“Rachel always did love flowers.” Stiles whispered with a smile.

Sam nodded, lifting the flower to her nose and sniffing. She grinned and looked up at the tree. “Thank you Rachel.”

Sam grabbed her staff and pushed herself to her feet with one hand, holding the flower gently in the other. Stiles and Scott both scrambled to help her but she waved them off.

“We need to go back.” Sam declared.

“Why?” Stiles asked.

Sam looked at him and held out the flower. “We need to get this in some dirt. Knowing Rachel, if we plant this, it’ll grow into a bush of these. And then we’ll always have something to remember her and our pasts without forgetting them and without giving them power over our hearts now.”

Stiles grinned. “That sounds perfect.”


	28. Unity

“Stiles if you touch that cake I will take your head off.” Sam said without looking over her shoulder as she dropped another peeled potato in the big bowl she had on the counter in front of her beside the bag of potatoes yet to be peeled.

“How the hell do you do that?!” Stiles exclaimed. “You’re human now!”

“Even human women have eyes in the back of their heads.” Joe smirked, kissing Sam’s cheek on his way past her to drop the huge pot of water on the stove.

Sam smiled at him and passed him the bowl of peeled potatoes. “Any ETA on Peter with the stuff for the runes?”

“He said an hour.” Joe told her. “But knowing him he’ll be here in around a half hour.”

“As long as he doesn’t get caught I’ll look the other way on that.” John told her. He was sitting at the dining room table working on the last of the reports and paperwork for the energy-drained and torn apart bodies the kumihos left in their wake. And the paperwork to explain away the destroyed state of the clearing where they had fought. It had been stumbled upon by a runner. He’d said lightning and shoved it away.

“Thank you muchly.” Sam grinned over at John.

John waved his hand around dismissively, but everyone could see the small smile on his face.

“You nearly done Dad?” Stiles asked, looking over.

“Just trying to figure out how to explain the pyramid of skulls found in the forest that match the dental records of the kids those things tore apart in the barn.”

“Coyotes and many other wild animals will carry the heads away from their feeding ground to eat in peace or give to young ones.” Sam said blandly. “And the head decays quite a bit faster apart from everything else as the coyotes would’ve eaten the brain, eyes, tongue, and anything else they could leaving just the skin to rot off the bones.”

“And the pyramid?” John asked. He was liking having these guys around to help come up with these stories. He didn’t need to come up with the lies anymore, he just wrote what he was told.

“A twisted person playing a joke.” Sam grimaced. “And many fanatics do their things on the dark of the moon when the darkness is complete all night long. And the dark of the moon occurred not long after the attack in the barn so some Satanists in the woods stumbled upon the skulls of a coyotes hunt and decided to make a pyramid of them. And if that’s the story you want the ‘twisted people’ would also have cleaned anything left on the skulls. There was lore a very long time ago that a perfect pyramid of clean skulls could be used in a dark ritual to open the doors to hell. Twisted people might just believe it.”

John nodded. “That’ll work.”

“Why’d the…the things do it though?” Joe asked. He still wasn’t able to call them kumihos yet. He was getting better though. “They weren’t trying to open hell.”

“A sick joke.” Sam sighed. “The kumihos obviously weren’t stupid enough to believe the lore in actuality but it may have been an homage to their twisted minds. Or a symbol they wanted to have around when they released their king and set out to destroy all humans ever. Sort of a hell on earth concept.”

“That’s horrible.” John decided.

“We live in a horrible world.” Sam reminded him.

“Derek and the girls are here.” Joe announced, breaking the somber mood and brightening up again after the talk of the kumihos. “I’ll go let them in.” He left the room with a smile on his face. They’d all been able to smile more with the others around. And Joe and Derek have become close after their conversation before the transfer from Sam to Stiles. Both alphas feel a bit more relaxed with the other around knowing someone else was there to take care of and protect their newly combined pack.

“Stiles you’ll have to leave.” Sam told him.

“What? Why?”

“The girls are insisting that we keep to the Druid traditions for Chandra and Zach so that also means Allison and Seth.”

Stiles groaned.

“Don’t even try to argue.” Sam warned him. “Lydia’s been working on her moves with Alli and me and she will put on in your arm if you jeopardize her fun.”

Stiles laughed. “Alright. Derek and I can find something to do.”

“I have to stay here.” Derek said, coming into the kitchen with the girls in tow.

“What?!” Stiles exclaimed.

“All girls in the pack and the alphas have to be there for the prep. No other boys are allowed.” Lydia told him. “So you will be leaving.”

“You can go outside and finish the set-up out there.” Sam told him. “It’ll be a good time for you to practice mixing fire and air.”

Stiles groaned, slamming his head into the table. He sat back up, looking around in confusion.

“What?” Derek asked, wondering why his boyfriend was looking so confused.

“Something poked me.” Stiles told him. Then he screamed and fell off his stool as Chandra appeared right in front of his face. She looked ready to die with laughter, bending at the waist and holding her stomach. She was getting a lot of fun out of her gift now that everything was calm enough for her to really enjoy it.

“I hate you.” Stiles told her. He glared at the others, who were all laughing. “And you guys too.” Then he caught the smirk of Derek’s face as the wolf tried to hold back his laughter like a good boyfriend. “You’re horrible.” He told Derek.

Derek shrugged. “That was hilarious.”

“I’m never going to get used to that.” Stiles muttered.

“Sorry.” Chandra pecked his cheek. “But get out. I want to get ready.”

Stiles sighed but hugged her, kissed Allison’s cheek, blew a kiss at Sam, and kissed Derek before leaving. He knew there was no point arguing. No matter how much power he has, the girls will always rule the house. So he went outside to finish the decorations.

“When do we start?” Chandra asked. She looked nervous and excited. Allison and her were holding hands tightly, both looking nervous and excited and very impatient.

“As soon as those pies come out of the oven we can do the start and then I’ll leave you both in the very capable hands of Lydia and Erica.” Sam said. Lydia and Erica beamed at the praise. “The boys can help me finish the food up while you get dressed and then we’ll do the end and we’ll be good to go.”

“Then let’s do it!” Allison happily. “I wanna get werewolf married!”

“Stiles is a horrible influence on you.” John declared.

Allison grinned at him. “Aren’t you supposed to leave too?”

“Nah, men don’t have to go.” Sam grinned. “Once a man’s married they’re allowed in the building but they still can’t see either of you before we get to the clearing.”

“I’ll be leaving with Stiles when the time comes.” John told them. “Don’t worry, I won’t be breaking your traditions. Sam has told me everything about what’s happening so I could let the station know to disregard any reports of lights coming from the forest tonight.”

The girls all had the decency to blush a little. The whole pack had been out the night before to start the celebration and the Sheriff had called Sam demanding to be told why the station was getting calls about rainbow lights shining out of the forest.

“We should get started if we’re to be done in time.” Erica decided. “We don’t want to hurry this.”

“She’s right.” Allison said. “Chan and I need to be perfect tonight.”

“Why?” Derek asked. “They’re not gonna leave you for not being perfect.”

Joe clapped Derek on the shoulder. “Derek. There is one thing you seem to be forgetting about our girls. They are females that enjoy clothing and its many styles. This is an important night and they will be perfect for it, even if they have to slaughter people to make it perfect.”

“Damn right we will.” Lydia declared. “I know how to stab people now and I am very willing to do so to make this night amazing.”

Derek smiled. “Well alright. Let’s get going then before we waste anymore perfection time.”

*

“Zach you need to shift out.” Seth begged the Bengal tiger curled up on the bed of the spare room of the pack house Derek was letting them use to get ready. He’d been trying to coax him out for nearly fifteen minutes. So far he’d gotten him out from under the bed sheet he’d burrowed under enough that it was just on one leg instead of his head. “We have to finish the blessing and draw the runes. We can’t do that when you are a giant cat.”

The tiger that was Zach just whined.

“I know you’re nervous.” Seth sighed. “So am I. But Chandra is not going to change her mind about this. She loves you and after tonight you’ll be fully bonded. You’ll be free from the rules and everything will be okay.”

The tiger rippled and then Zach was there, curled up on the bed, the sheet that had been over his one leg now covering him completely. He poked his head out and looked up at Seth, hair a mess and eyes worried. “That’s the problem.” He whispered.

Seth sighed, sat down on the bed, moved towards the middle, and crossed his legs. Zach wiggled over and put his head on Seth’s leg.

“What’s the problem?” Seth asked quietly, lifting a hand to run fingers through Zach’s hair. The pair of them were close and he didn’t like seeing Zach worried like this on what is supposed to be one of the best days of his life.

“The rules lift after tonight.” Zach whispered, arching his neck to push his head into Seth’s hand. He was like the wolves in that his powers mix into his daily life in his personality. He likes getting his hair played with, as long as he’s close with them. Otherwise it’s weird.

“Dude you’ve been looking forward to that for, like, a year. Why’s that a problem now?”

“What if I’m not…what if I’m not good enough?” Zach asked. “What if I disappoint her or she doesn’t like it?”

“You are an absolute fucking idiot.” Seth laughed. “You could trip over the threshold of your bedroom and knock yourself out and Chandra would still love you. You could fall asleep fucking her and she’d be fine. She’d laugh at you forever but she is not going to leave you.” Seth reached over and tapped the silvery scars on Zach’s upper arm. “You see these? These are because you took a set of claws to your arm to save Jackson’s life in that fight. These are scars that will never heal and Chandra is okay with that. That kumiho marked you but I can almost guarantee you that Chandra will be claiming these scars as hers before this weekend is up. She loves you and she isn’t going anywhere. No matter how insane I think she is she’s decided to love you and only you. So don’t hurt her, which I know you won’t, and we’ll be fine. Okay?”

Zach looked up at Seth. “You’re mocking me.”

“Of course I’m fucking mocking you.” Seth rolled his eyes. “I’m not freaking out and I’ve known Allison for half the time you and Chan have been together. You two will be fine. If anyone should be worrying it’s me.”

“Allison loves you dude she won’t be going anywhere.”

“And neither with Chandra.”

Zach sighed. “Okaaayyy. But if she leaves me or is disappointed you get to deal with it.”

“I’d deal with it anyways stupid.” Seth laughed.

“That’s beside the point.” Zach declared.

“Get up and put some clothes on stupid.” Seth ordered. “We need to get done or we won’t make it on time.”

*

The pack and the coven all stood in the clearing. They were on the edge, dressed all in black. The boys were on one side and the girls were on the other. The full moon was hanging over head, making the lanterns Stiles had magicked up sparkle in the moonlight. And draped from branches all around the clearing were rose vines of the white and red roses Rachel’s rose had grown. They’d all thought the idea of unity was a good idea for the night and even in the short time the rose was planted it had flourished at their home.

Sam, Joe, and Derek stepped forward. They walked to the Nemeton and turned around, Sam only hesitating a moment to stare at her silver mark before turning with a smile. She looked short stood between two alpha werewolves but even without magic she stood tall and proud, unwavering in confidence.

“We have come tonight to this sanctuary of safety and love, created in loss and forged with blood, to bind two pairs in their forever bonds.” Sam said. She held out her arms. “Children, step forward.”

From the trees on either side of the clearing the girls and guys stepped forward. And if you had super-hearing in that clearing, you could hear the skips of heartbeats as they entered.

Seth and Zach were on one side, dressed to match. They both wore black jeans and black tanks that hugged their bodies and showed off the muscles they had built in their training. And down their arms were runes of bonding, love, happiness, everything needed for a good life. On their faces was one last rune, on both cheeks, that meant everlasting. Because the bond is forever. But it didn’t matter how manly or hot the guys looked, because everyone was staring at the girls, Erica and Lydia albeit a little smugly.

Both girls were dressed in black, as is the custom, but it looked _good_ on them. They each had on skin-tight black jeans and black tops that showed off their bodies. Their hair was pulled back in different styles to fit their faces and their make-up was done to perfection. Neither of them looked human. They didn’t even look magic. They looked…ethereal. But not breakable. They looked like warriors who could kill anyone that got in their way.

Both pairs walked across the clearing, eyes only for their opposites on the other side, and stopped in front of the trio and the Nemeton.

“We will first bond Chandra and Zach, as they have been waiting a very long time.” Sam said.

Allison and Seth stepped back, retreating from the center and leaving Chandra and Zach alone. They kept their eyes mostly on each other though, staring across the space between them in awe of their mate.

“Chandra Mavana.” Sam said calmly. “You are bonded to the werewolf Zachary. Do you wish to complete the bond?”

“I do.” Chandra said, grinning wide. She sounded so excited it was like it was about to burst out of her.

“Zachary.” Joseph continued. “You are bonded to the Druid of Fire Chandra Mavana. Do you wish to complete the bond?”

“I do.” Zach nodded. He sounded just as excited as Chandra and a little nervous still despite Seth’s pump-up speech at the house.

“Then together we stand witness to your bond.” Sam and Joe said together. “You may speak the vows.”

“I promise myself to you.” Chandra and Zach said together. “I give you everything and accept you in return. I take on your problems and the weight of your past. I take on the memories of old that still pain you today. I take on the fight against any and all who should wish to harm you. You are my mate and I stand tonight under the light of the full moon and make these vows to stand at your side until the end of our days. You are mine and I am yours. Until forever more.”

Sam and Joe grinned. “By the light of the moon and our power as your teachers, we bless your binding and may you live forever in happiness.”

Chandra squealed and jumped at Zach. Luckily he was fast enough to catch her without falling himself and answer to the kiss she was pressing against her lips. Chandra’s magic finally burst out of her, fire spinning around them as they kissed, flickering over them and warming them without burning them. Chandra’s magic was just as happy as she was.

“Oh my god.” Stiles’s voice drifted across the clearing.

Sam looked up and smiled. “Chandra. Zach. Look up.”

The couple pulled apart and did so, both of them grinning at the sight. The Nemeton they stood under had stretched a branch down to hang over them and a bunch of forget me not flowers hung from the end.

“Take them.” Sam whispered.

Chandra reached up and plucked the flowers from the branch. As soon as she had them the branch crept away, going back up to the canopy above. “What do they mean?”

“Forget me nots stand for true love.” Lydia said, her voice astonished.

“Did the tree just bless them?” John asked, leaning over towards Danny.

“Yes.” Sam answered. “Nemetons are the site of bondings because of the power and sanctuary they hold. But every once in a while they also bless the bond, marking the couple as meant to be.”

Chandra grinned and looked at Zach. “We’re meant to be.” She whispered.

Zach kissed her again and pulled away with a grin. “I knew that already.”

“As the alpha of the territory I bless you both.” Derek said with a grin. “You are always welcome here.”

Chandra and Zach grinned at him.

“Can we go now?” Seth asked impatiently.

Everyone laughed.

“Yea we’ll move.” Chandra told him. She looked down at Zach. “Move us.”

Zach rolled his eyes but carried Chandra to the side. Seth and Allison immediately took their spots.

“Allison.” Sam began. “You are bonded to the werewolf Sethanial. Do you wish to complete this bond?”

“I do.” Allison answered with a grin.

“Sethanial.” Joe said. “You are bonded to the human Allison. Do you wish to complete this bond?”

“I do.” Seth said firmly.

“Then together we stand witness to your bond.” Sam and Joe said together. “You may speak the vows.”

Seth and Allison looked at each other. “I promise myself to you.” They said together. “I give you everything and accept you in return. I take on your problems and the weight of your past. I take on the memories of old that still pain you today. I take on the fight against any and all who should wish to harm you. You are my mate and I stand tonight under the light of the full moon and make these vows to stand at your side until the end of our days. You are mine and I am yours. Until forever more.”

“By the light of the moon and our power as your teachers, we bless your binding and may you live forever in happiness.” Sam and Joe said.

Seth and Allison both surged forward, wrapping their arms around each other and kissing happily.

Sam looked up at the tree and smiled as the branch descended again. “Alli. Seth.”

The couple pulled apart and looked up. Allison gasped. “Us?”

“The tree has good taste.” Derek grinned. “It is easy to see you two are meant for each other. Oh and as the alpha of the territory I bless you both. You are always welcome here.”

“We’d be here even if we weren’t welcome.” Allison promised him, reaching up to take the flowers.

“I have no doubt about that.” Derek sighed.

Stiles came racing across the clearing and crashed into Allison and Seth, wrapping them in a big hug. “I’m so fucking happy for you.” He muttered.

Allison laughed and turned so Stiles could hug her better. “Wouldn’t have happened without you.”

Stiles snorted. “I knew you’d thank me for that misdone water spell some day.”

*

“You seem thoughtful.” Peter commented, sitting down next to Sam on the porch steps.

Sam smiled at him. “I suppose I am.”

Peter turned his head to look at what had her attention. He smiled to see Joe helping Stiles and Scott figure out how to use the magic Stiles gained from Sam to take a little bit of Scott’s werewolf and give Stiles claws. The pair of boys had spent the last week repairing their old wounds and were nearly back to being just as close as they had been. Both of them knew it would never be the same because of what happened but they were more than willing to do as much as necessary to keep the peace between them and be as good as brothers again.

“You really love that boy.” Peter observed, noticing the way Sam’s eyes were catching on Joe’s every movement. They were all a bit more protective of their partners but it was getting better again.

Sam nodded. “I don’t know where I’d be without him.”

“Probably killing people from what I know of Eli.” Peter guessed.

Sam chuckled. “Yea I suppose.”

“How have you been doing?” Peter asked.

Sam shrugged. “It’s different, not having my magic there. It feels like something’s missing. But I’ll be okay. I’ll get used to it and I have all of you to keep me safe so I can figure out how to be human.”

“And Stiles keeps your Light then?” Peter asked, watching one of the balls of soft, glowing light Stiles had filled the air of the yard with to light up the night float by.

Sam nodded. “It would’ve returned to me the moment the moon rose tonight as the spell is only until the moon, but I have no magic for it to return to, so he keeps it.”

“But he’s not a Master?”

“No. He has to finish his training and do the same ritual before he is considered a full Master mage and gets his gift.”

“Knowing him it won’t take too long.”

“I’m sure it won’t.” Sam smiled.

“And he’s finally forgiven them all. Even Jackson.”

“Jackson dove in front of Stiles after the wards fell. Stiles would be dead without Jackson.” Sam reminded him. “Everyone protected everyone during that fight. And now we’re one big pack and everyone’s okay.”

“For now.”

“For now.” Sam agreed with a sigh. “I’ve made too many enemies over the years for us to stay safe for long. The knowledge of my humanity will spread fast. And then people will come. But we’ll face them together and we’ll come out on top. We’ll have to.”

Peter glanced over at the rose bush that had flourished in the dirt next to the house. It was already fully grown and covered in rose buds, all of them a mix of red and white like the original. Despite them cutting many vines off to decorate the Nemeton’s clearing, the bush was still flourishing. “That grew nicely.”

Sam looked at it and smiled. “As long as we love each other, it’ll stay like that. It’ll flower through wind, sleet, hail, snow, anything. Rachel made sure of it.”

“It will be good to have something to remind us.”

Sam nodded in agreement. “Especially now that we’re one pack with two alphas.”

Peter smiled. “And did you talk to May about being one pack? And this summer?”

Sam nodded. “She said _everyone_ is welcome.”

Peter grinned. “They’re going to like that.”

She looked at Peter. “What about you? How are you feeling?”

“Good.” Peter answered. “It felt good to see Chandra and Allison liking the gifts I made them.” He was looking at the one he gave Chandra as he spoke. She’d created licks of fire that were twisting around the metal, not giving off any heat to hurt the sculpture but combining with the metal to make a beautiful sight. He liked that he could catch her keep looking at it and smiling. It made him smile.

Sam grinned. “Peter, you made them sculptures of metal that look like flowing water and burning fire shaped into the runes of happiness and love they wear tonight for their bonding. It was one of the most amazing bond gifts I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t help but love them.”

Peter smiled and blushed a little at the praise. “I wanted to do something for you guys after you did so much for me.”

Sam smiled. “Peter you went halfway across the country for the stuff for the transfer from me to Stiles. And you drove for seven hours straight today to get the one herb we forgot to have for the rune ink for their bindings. You have more than repaid your debt. I’d say I owe you at this point.”

“Well, then do me a favor?” Peter asked.

Sam nodded. “Anything within my now very limited power.”

“Don’t let my nephew get hurt?” Peter asked. “I’ve watched enough of my family die. I don’t want to see any more.”

Sam nodded with a small smile on her face. “We’ll all keep each other safe. That’s what pack is. That’s what pack does. You won’t watch your family die. And we won’t watch you die. Because you, Peter Hale, are a part of this hodge-podge, messed-up, completely and utterly insane family and we are never letting you or anyone else go. We’re in this together. Until the end.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well thats all for now folks. I hope you've enjoyed this one and there is the possibility of another one later but for now, this is it. If you've enjoyed my writing, look for another long fic coming out as soon as I get enough planned out to proceed. Bye guys!

**Author's Note:**

> Just so everyone knows I am over on [Tumblr](http://perfectalphadouchebag.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to come talk or tell me what you think of the story! And I also do prompts over there as well so come say hello!


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